Alexandra Nechita
{{Short description|Romanian-American painter}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alexandra Nechita
| image = Nechita.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Nechita in 2020
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1985|08|27}}
| birth_place = Vaslui, Romania
| spouse = {{Plainlist|
- {{marriage|Dimitry Tcharfas|2014}}
}}
| children = 2
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| movement = Cubism
| alma_mater = University of California, Los Angeles
}}
Alexandra Nechita (born August 27, 1985) is a Romanian-American cubist painter and philanthropist. At age 12 she was dubbed the "Petite Picasso" by the media and the art community. She has been praised for her paintings and vision of art.{{cite news | url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/boroughs/teen-achievement-artist-article-1.583842 | date= October 10, 2004 | work=New York Daily News | first=Lauren| last=Lacapra | title=Teen Is Achievement Artist |access-date =August 20, 2012}}
Early life and education
Nechita was born in Vaslui, three months after her father, Niki, escaped from Communist Romania. She and her mother, Viorica, had to wait two years before they were allowed to join him in the United States. The family settled in California, where her father found work as a lab technician and her mother as an office manager.
At the age of two, she was working with pen and ink, and by five with watercolors. By her seventh birthday, oil and acrylics were her tools. She had her first solo exhibition at age eight, at the public library in Whittier, Los Angeles County.{{cite news | url = http://www.sptimes.com/2007/09/09/Neighborhoodtimes/Love__peace_from__Pet.shtml | date =September 9, 2007| work=Tampa Bay Times | first=Terri | last=Bryce | title=Love, peace from 'Petite Picasso' |access-date =September 13, 2012}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/07/02/child-art-prodigy-grows-up/|title=Child art prodigy grows up|date=2 July 2003 |access-date=2016-09-22}} At the time, she was a student at Orange Lutheran High School, a private school in Orange County. In 1995, at the age of ten, Nechita was taken to Paris to work at the Mourlot Studios. In the same year, she became the youngest artist to sign with International Art Publishers.{{cite news | url = http://lasvegassun.com/news/1997/oct/03/romanian-child-artist-creates-painting-to-celebrat/ | date= October 3, 1997 | work=Las Vegas Sun | first=Anne | last=Hosier | title=Romanian child artist creates painting to celebrate Agassi fund-raiser |access-date =April 5, 2012}} When Nechita graduated, she gave her teachers a special painting that she had painted.
Career
By early 1996 Nechita had already delivered 16 solo exhibits of her paintings, and "at least $1.5 million in sales."{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-04-26-ls-63836-story.html|title=ALEXANDRA THE GREAT|last=Klein|first=Dianne|date=1996-04-26|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401013633/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-04-26-ls-63836-story.html |archive-date=2021-04-01 |access-date=2020-01-10}} Nechita came to national attention in early 1997, when she was chosen to design the 39th Annual Grammy Awards Program.{{cite news | url = http://www.csmonitor.com/1998/0701/070198.feat.feat.4.html | date= July 1, 1998 | work=The Christian Science Monitor | first=David | last= Holmstrom | title=Alexandra Nechita: Parenting A 'Pint-Sized Picasso' in Braces |accessdate =June 7, 2012}} Nechita has been a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show and has appeared with numerous celebrities, including Bill Clinton. In addition to talk show appearances, she has played herself on the teen sitcom Boy Meets World in the 1998 episode "Better Than The Average Cory". Her talent and perceived similarities to Pablo Picasso led to her being known as the "Petite Picasso.{{cite news | url = http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2001/01/17/national/little-picasso-dedicates-work-to-victim/| work=The Japan Times |title='Little Picasso' dedicates work to victim |accessdate = May 2, 2012 | date=January 17, 2001}} She was known as a child prodigy until late in her teens,{{cite news | url = http://www.csmonitor.com/1998/0701/070198.feat.feat.4.html | date= July 1, 1998 | work=The Christian Science Monitor | first=David | last= Holmstrom | title=Alexandra Nechita: Parenting A 'Pint-Sized Picasso' in Braces |accessdate =June 7, 2012}} and routinely sold her paintings for $100,000 or more.{{cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alexandra-nechita-update_us_5727d177e4b016f378935312|date=May 3, 2016|work=Huffington Post|first=Lisa|last=Capretto|title=At 11, This Child Prodigy Sold Paintings For $100,000. Here's Her Life Today At 30|accessdate= September 21, 2017}}
In November 1999, Nechita was selected by the World Federation of United Nations Associations to lead a Global Arts Initiative involving more than 100 nations.{{cite news | url=http://www.guidrynews.com/story.aspx?id=1000025697 | date=April 13, 2010 | work=Guidry News Houston | title=Prodigal Painter, Alexandra Nechita, Returns to Houston | accessdate=November 9, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912055551/http://www.guidrynews.com/story.aspx?id=1000025697 | archive-date=September 12, 2018 | url-status=dead }} In 2005, Alexandra Nechita unveiled her United Nations Peace Monument for Asia in Singapore, to be displayed at the Catholic High School. Her artwork has been sold and displayed at various locations in the world and her collectors include Ellen DeGeneres, Alec Baldwin, Oprah Winfrey, Melissa Etheridge, Lee Iacocca, Calvin Klein, Whoopi Goldberg, Little Richard and Paul Stanley of the rock group Kiss.Painting Like Pablo, People Magazine. June 10, 1996 Vol. 45 No. 23{{cite news |url=http://www.londonartsgroup.com/Artist-Info.cfm?ArtistsID=451&info=Exhibits&ppage= |work=London Arts Group |title=Alexandra Nechita Artwork |accessdate=July 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912131217/http://www.londonartsgroup.com/Artist-Info.cfm/?ArtistsID=451&info=Exhibits&ppage= |archive-date=September 12, 2018 |url-status=dead }} The theatre at her high school, Lutheran High School of Orange County is named after her.{{cite news|title=New music direction debuts at Orange Lutheran|url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/concert-639053-music-zeilinger.html|accessdate=December 31, 2014|work=Orange County Register|date=October 20, 2014}}
Nechita is on the Board of Selectors of Jefferson Awards for Public Service.{{cite news | url = http://www.jeffersonawards.org/about/ | work = Jefferson Awards | title = Our Board of Selectors | accessdate = December 4, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140822190847/http://www.jeffersonawards.org/board | archive-date = August 22, 2014 | url-status = dead }}
Media
Nechita was interviewed by CNN's Nicole Lapin on the series Young People Who Rock in November 2007.[http://www.cnn.com/exchange/blogs/ypwr/2007/11/alexandra-nechita_26.html Alexandra Nechita], CNN.com. Retrieved. November 26, 2007. She has appeared on television news and talk shows around the world, including NBC's Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC Nightly News and CBS Sunday Morning.{{cite news | url = http://www.lasplash.com/event/6742 |work=Splash Magazines| title=Artist Alexandra Nechita To Appear at Wentworth Gallery Splash | date= May 21, 2005|accessdate= February 20, 2013}} She also made a Guest appearance in an episode of ABC's Boy Meets World. She has received numerous awards and honors which include Outstanding Artist of the Year (Lincoln Center for Arts New York); Most Fascinating Woman of the Year (Ladies' Home Journal in conjunction with CBS TV); Outstanding Young person Award (Osaka, Japan); and Woman of the Year by the American Red Cross.{{cite news | url = http://patch.com/new-jersey/millburn/alexandra-nechita-exhibition | date= July 14, 2014| work= Millburn-Short Hills Patch | first=Joey | last=Amato | title=Alexandra Nechita Exhibition |accessdate =August 23, 2014}}
Personal life
She graduated from UCLA in 2008 with a degree in Fine Arts and currently lives in Los Angeles. In January 2014, she married longtime boyfriend Dimitry Tcharfas. She has a daughter and a son.{{cite news | url = http://www.unica.ro/articol/micuta-picasso-alexandra-nechita-s-a-casatorit-39639 | accessdate = January 28, 2014 | work=Unica.ro |language=Romanian| first=Geo | last=Berciu | title="Micuţa Picasso" s-a măritat cu un designer | date=January 16, 2014}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://alexandranechita.com/}}
- {{Instagram|alex_nechita}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- [http://www.siennafineart.com/nechita-biography/ Sienna Fine Art profile]
- [https://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/gallery/alexandra_nechita?pg=5 Alexandra Nechita Arts & Entertainment] The Boston Globe
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20061022020721/http://www.piersidegallery.com/artists/nechita/alexnewsjuly2003.htm "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman"], by Jit Fong Chin, June 23, 2003
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nechita, Alexandra}}
Category:Romanian emigrants to the United States
Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Category:Painters from California
Category:Sculptors from California
Category:American women muralists
Category:American philanthropists