Page 43 - 20160815 Exhibition Guidebook First Printing

Galleries Artist Biography

1969 - W & J Sloane - Beverly Hills, California 1933 - Born in Cairo, Egypt, to an Armenian father and a Syrian mother, she is named Markrit Thomassian*
1970 - House of Hartford Gallery - Beverly Hills, California 1950 - Completed her kindergarten, elementary, and high school education, all in French schools
1971 - Galerie Camille - Beverly Hills, California 1954 - Started college to study fine art
1973 - World of Art Gallery - Scottsdale, Arizona 1958 - Spent her summer in Europe
1973 - La Pasada Gallery - Sedona, Arizona 1960 - Graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from the Leonardo Da Vince Italian School of Fine Arts
1977 - Mejika Galleries - Santa Monica, California 1960 - Landed a job in Beirut, Lebanon, illustrating magazine and book covers
1980 - Wally Findlay Galleries - Beverly Hills, California 1965 - Immigrated to the USA
1981 - Art Expo - San Francisco, California 1965 - Landed a job at Universal Studios Tour painting fast pastel portraits of tourists
1989 - Rhapsody Fine Art - West Hollywood, California 1965 - Got married in Las Vegas at the Tropicana
1990 - Artexpo - New York, New York 1967 - Took classes at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles
1990 - Artexpo - Los Angeles, California 1968 - Took private lessons from Sam Markitante who was a French landscape painter living in Santa Monica
1990 - Art To Art Galleries - Studio City, California 1969 - Sold a large number of her paintings at W&J Sloane in Beverly Hills
1991 - Artexpo - New York, New York 1969 - Seven of her paintings were stolen from W&J Sloane but never recovered
1991 - Connoisseur Gallery - La Jolla, California 1970 - Visited Tahiti and painted natives dancing
1991 - Artexpo - Los Angeles, California 1970 - Opened her own gallery, “Gallerie Camille,” at 224 North Canon Drive in Beverly Hills
1991 - Atlas Galleries - Chicago, Illinois 1973 - Had her only child
1991 - Village Gallery - Breckenridge, Colorado 1975 - Traveled to Paris
1991 - Lumina Art Gallery - Trenton, New Jersey 1978 - Was in an accident that broke her left arm in 5 pieces forcing her to stop painting for a whole year
1992 - Rhapsody Fine Art - West Hollywood, California 1981 - Traveled to Mexico
1992 - Globe Art Distributors, Ontario, Canada 1982 - Moved to Malibu to paint in a larger studio
1992 - Modern Art Gallery - Japan 1984 - Traveled to Paris
1993 - Allan Art - Singapore 1986 - Traveled to Canada and Alaska
1994 - Vail Fine Art - Edwards, Colorado 1993 - One of her art dealers went to Federal prison causing considerable financial damage
1997 - Wentworth Galleries - Nationwide, USA 1994 - Traveled to Florence
2016 - Healy Hayes Gallery, UNLV 1995 - Traveled to Hawaii
1996 - A second dealer absconded with many of her paintings
1996 - Withdrew from the art market but continued to paint what she likes
Publications 2012 - Moved to Las Vegas to retire
2013 - Started painting showgirls with the intent of helping showgirls that need help

1971 - Lincoln Day Celebration - Cover art
1971 - Los Angeles Magazine - Art Happenings
1971 - The Beverly Hills Courier - Marjorie Walker *Her father, Kaspar Thomassian, was an Armenian who was born in Turkey but who fled to Egypt during the
Armenian holocaust of the first World War.
1991 - Sunstorm Fine Art Magazine - The New Impressionists - by Andrew C. Voth
1992 - Art Expo Preview - Facing Market Challenges, by Deborah K. Swanson
1992 - Southwest Art Gallery Magazine - Real Art - by Rita Asfour
1992 - The Art of Giving - The Leukemia Society Of America
1993 - The Art of Giving - The Leukemia Society Of America
1993 - Sunstorm Fine Art Magazine - Pure Visual Sensation - by Kathleen Heiser
2016 - Rita Asfour, Her Way - An Exhibit Guidebook by Dr. Robert Tracy, UNLV curator

42 43