Rita Asfour

Armenian/American (1933)

About the artist:

My Armenian father was an inventor. Thanks to him, my natural curiosity as a child was greatly encouraged. During the troubled times of World-War-1, he was forced to escape his birthplace near the Russian-Turkish border. The only escape route open to him was down the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. His journey ended in Cairo, where I was born. My sojourns were of a much more pleasant nature. I traveled to Italy, Germany, France, Tahiti, and Mexico, before traveling to many cities in the US and finally settling down in Malibu, where I have lived since 1982. I started my professional career as a magazine and book cover illustrator. The next big assignment was as a portrait artist at Universal Studios. Encouraged by the many sales that followed, I opened my own art gallery in Beverly Hills in 1970. There, I sold my own paintings as well as those of other artists, and gave private art lessons to a few celebrities. When my only daughter Amber was born, I felt compelled to stay home to take care of her. I gradually went back to painting as Amber grew up and became more independent. Education From Kindergarten through high school, I went to the French school Le Lycee Francee. That was followed by six years of strict Italian tutoring at The Leonardo Da Vinci Italian Academy Of Arts, from which I graduated with a BA in Fine Arts. My Italian instructors taught me how to paint alla prima. Immediately after immigrating to the US, I enlisted at The Chouinard Art Institute. Shortly after, I took private lessons from Sam Markitante, an 80-year old French artist who taught the techniques he learned in the Paris studio that he rented after the death of Renoir. Collectors I sold hundreds of paintings in Canada, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Europe, and all over the United States. Amongst my distinguished collectors are Ella Fitzgerald, Donna Reed, Tricia Nixon, Congressman Alphonso Bell, and publisher Otis Chandler." Exhibits House of Hartford Gallery, Beverly Hills Wally Findlay Galleries, Beverly Hills Gallery Camille, Beverly Hills, W. J. Sloan, Beverly Hills Wentworth Galleries, Nationwide Atlas Galleries, Chicago Lumina Galleries, Soho, New York Vail Fine Art, Colorado Carol Schwartz Galleries, Philadelphia Artexpo New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco Modern Art Gallery – Japan Allan Art, Singapore

Rita Asfour

Armenian/American (1933)

(1 works)

About the artist:

My Armenian father was an inventor. Thanks to him, my natural curiosity as a child was greatly encouraged. During the troubled times of World-War-1, he was forced to escape his birthplace near the Russian-Turkish border. The only escape route open

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