As if from nothing, Josephine Baker journeyed to Europe where she was an instant success and became a symbol of the Jazz Age. In stage shows there she would appear practically nude and engage in erotic and unusual, unconventional loose-limbed dancing to go with a unique comic stage persona. She would even cross her eyes on purpose! Audiences went crazy for her. Baker’s phenomenal success on Paris music halls soon propelled her to the status of being the highest paid entertainer in Europe. No less than Ernest Hemingway praised her performances as “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw.” Picasso used her as a subject for many paintings which reflected her beauty and her dancing art.