Alice Mavrogordato | |
---|---|
Born | Alice Blum March 14, 1916 [1] |
Died | October 20, 2000[1]
Washington, D.C., U.S. | (aged 84)
Other names | Alice Blum Mavrogordato |
Occupation(s) | painter, translator |
Movement | Washington Color School, abstract art |
Spouse | Ralph S. Mavrogordato [1] (m. 1948–2000; death) |
Alice Mavrogordato (née Alice Blum; 1916–2000) was an Austrian-born American artist, and translator. She is known for her abstract oil paintings, and is associated with the Washington Color School movement. [2] She worked as a translator during the Nuremberg trials in the mid-1940s.
Her name at birth was Alice Blum, she was born on 14 March 1916 in Vienna, which at the time was part of Austria-Hungary. [3] [1] Her mother was Friederike (née Grossman) and her father was Ludwig Blum. [1] At age 12, she took classes at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, with Franz Cižek. [1] She had studied textile design in Austria from 1930 to 1932, and worked as a knitwear designer. [2]
On March 12, 1938, the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany happened. In 1939, she left and moved to England, as a Jewish refugee. [2] In 1941 and 1942 during the beginning of World War II, she was interned at the Isle of Man. [2] After being released, she worked in London in a war production factory. [2] After World War II, she worked for the United States Army, as a translator during the Nuremberg trials for military war crimes. [2]
In 1948, she married Ralph S. Mavrogordato, an American soldier. [1]
In 1951, she immigrated to Durham, North Carolina; followed by a move in 1953 to Washington, D.C. [2] [4] Around 1954, she studied at the Washington Workshop Center for the Arts, under Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland. [2] [1] Her first solo art exhibition was in 1958. [2] She was known for her oil paintings. [5]
She died of cancer on October 20, 2000, in Washington, D.C. [1] She left her art estate of more than 300 works to the Republic of Austria. [4]