Joseph Alexis Bailly (1825 - 1883)

Sculptor. The son of a Parisian cabinetmaker, Joseph attended the École des Beaux-Arts before being drafted into the Army during the Revolution of 1848. He assaulted an officer, deserted, and fled to England where he studied briefly under the sculptor Edward Hodges Baily. After traveling to the United States and Argentina, he settled in Philadelphia […]

Joseph Badger (1707 - 1765)

Artist. He began his working life as a house painter and glazier. He became a famous portrait artist whose works hang in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Brooklyn Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Harvard University Art Museum, the Worcester Art […]

John Bacon (1740 - 1799)

Sculptor. His original technique did much to improve the transition of statues from artificial stone to marble. In 1769 he was awarded the first gold medal by the Royal Academy for sculpture. His many works and monuments can be found at St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. (bio by: s.canning)

Wendy Barrie (1912 - 1978)

In 1932, Wendy Barrie made her screen debut in the film Threads, which was based upon a play. She went on to make a number of motion pictures for London Films under the Korda brothers, Alexander and Zoltan, the best known of which is 1933’s The Private Life of Henry VIII, which starred Charles Laughton, […]

Henry Bacon (1866 - 1924)

Architect. Raised in and around Wilmington, North Carolina, where his father was a civil engineer, Henry spent a year at the University of Illinois. Beginning in 1885 as a draftsman, briefly in Boston, and then in the office of McKim, Mead and White in New York City. After four years, a fellowship enabled him to […]

Francis Bacon (1909 - 1992)

Artist. Noted for paintings in which the human figure was often distorted, twisted and placed within boxlike enclosures, he was a self-taught painter. After exhibiting his painting, Three Studies at the Base of a Crucifixion, in 1944 at the Lefevre Galleries, he became the most controversial painter in post-war England. Bacon said of his paintings: […]

Frédéric Back (1924 - 2013)

Film Animator. He was a Canadian artist and director, world renowned for his short animated films. In 1952, he began his career as an illustrator in the graphics department of Radio-Canada’s first-ever television station. Branching from television illustrations to directing short animated films, he produced his first animation short, “Abracadabra” in 1970. Over the next […]

Platt Delascus Babbitt (1823 - 1879)

Photographer. Born in Lanesbourough, Massachusetts, he became one of the first daguerreotypists to specialize in tourist photography. In 1853 he opened a permanent studio at Niagara Falls and worked there at Point View and Prospect Point. However his best known image is an early news photo,  entitled “Man stranded on rocks in the Niagara River”, […]

Fedora Barbieri (1920 - 2003)

Opera Singer, Actress. Born in Trieste, Italy, she was an mezzo-soprano with one of the longest careers in opera history. She made her official debut in Florence in 1940 and quickly established her reputation performing in opera houses in Europe, South America, America and Asia, until 1999. Considered a formidable actress as well as a […]

Tex Avery (1908 - 1980)

Cartoon Animator, Director. Primarily worked for the Walter Lantz Studios. Created the memorable cartoon characters “Daffy Duck”, “Droopy”, “Screwy Squirrel”, and “Chilly Willy”. He is also credited with creating the personality of “Bugs Bunny”, and was the one who coined the phrase “What’s up, doc?” (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Parents:  George Walton Avery […]

Milton Avery (1885 - 1965)

Artist. He was an acclaimed American painter, yet his work is not widely known to the general public. Today his works can be found at the Whitney and the Metropolian Museum of Art. (bio by: Laurie)

Pauline Auzou (1775 - 1835)

Artist.  Born Jeanne-Marte-Catherine Desmarquets, she was a successful French Neoclassic painter who made her mark as one of the few women artists who excelled in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  In 1802 she studied at French artist Jean-Baptiste Regnault’s studio and painted legendary nude Greek figures, unheard of for a female artist.  In […]

Tony Auth (1942 - 2014)

Pulitzer Prize Winning Cartoonist, Journalist. He was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning (1976) for “O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain”. He was bedridden during his early youth and at this time, he occupied himself by drawing and sketching. After his family moved to Los Angeles, he received […]

Lucille Ball (1911 - 1989)

Legendary comedic actress, best known for the title role in the hit television sitcom of the 1950’s “I Love Lucy.” She was born Lucille Desiree Ball on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York.  Intent on becoming an actress, she left high school at age 15, and tried unsuccessfully to get into drama school in […]

Mary Hunter Austin (1868 - 1934)

Artist, Author, and Lecturer. Best known for her sketches of desert life. (bio by: Laurie)

John C. Austin (1870 - 1963)

Architect, Civic Leader. Educated in England, Austin moved to the United States in the late 1880s and worked as a draftsman for an architect in Philadelphia from 1891–1892, before relocating to San Francisco where he worked a draftsman from 1892-1895. He moved to Los Angeles in 1895, and became one of the city’s leading architects. […]

Gaetana “Gae” Aulenti (1927 - 2012)

Italian architect and designer. Best known as designer of the Orsay Museum in Paris. Graduated in Architecture at the Polytechnic of Milan, her career is divided between the university teaching and the design and restructuring of important works, including the “National Museum of Catalan art” in Barcelona, the “Scuderie del Quirinale” in Rome, the Italian […]

John James Audubon (1785 - 1851)

Artist. Indelibly linked with the painting of birds, Audubon was the son of a French sea captain and his Creole mistress. Educated in his father’s native France, he had spent a disastrous year at a military school before studying art in Paris with the great David. At age 18 he emigrated to the United States, […]

Ugo Attardi (1923 - 2006)

Artist. He was born in Sori, Liguria, Italy. He was an internationally known sculptor, painter and writer. In Rome in 1947, he signed the Abstraction manifesto “Forma Uno” (One Form) as one of the founders, together with Perilli, Dorazio, Turcato and Consagra. He also received an award at the IX Exhibition of Valle Rovato. In […]

Jean-Michel Atlan (1913 - 1960)

Poet, Artist.  Born in Constantine, French Algeria. Leaving Istanbul in 1930 to study philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris where he also worked as a teacher afterwards. Jean-Michael and his family were jewish. During the occupation, Jean-Michel lost his teaching license and lived in poverty in Montparnasse. During that time he taught himself painting. Due […]

Gunnar Asplund (1885 - 1940)

Noted Architect. He was a leader of modern design, whom the magazine “Architectural Review” called “high priest of functionalism in Sweden.” Born in Stockholm he studied there at the Technical High School and the Academy of Art, graduating in 1909.  In the same year he entered an architectural competition for the Swedish Church in Paris. […]

Parveen Babi (1949 - 2005)

Actress. She was a major Bollywood star during the 1970s and 80s and appeared in over 50 films during her short but extremely successful film career. She was one of the first Indian actresses to openly flaunt her sexuality, and broke many of the taboos of Hindi films. Unfortunately, she died alone, forgotten by those […]

Frederick Ashton (1904 - 1988)

Ballet Choreographer. Born in Ecuador, he believed to be the second greatest British choreographer (Sir Kenneth MacMillan being first.) He studied dance in London with Massine and joined the Vic-Wells ballet in 1933 and was said to be a very talented character dancer, suited to roles such as Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty. Among the many […]

Laura Ashley (1925 - 1985)

Designer. Although Laura Ashley grew up in London, she was born Laura Mountney in Dolwais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Her love for that bucolic region heavily influenced her designs in home fashion and clothing. Ashley began her design career in London, on her kitchen table, where she sketched out designs for wallpaper, headscarves, placemats, and table […]

Patricia Avery (1902 - 1973)

Actress. Motion Picture star of the silent era. She is interred along with her husband, although her name does not appear on the marker. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Jean Arp (1887 - 1966)

Artist, Poet. Born in Strasbourg, France, he began his career as a poet, before he developed a succesful work on sculpture and painting (but never abandoing writing poetry). He was a founding member of the Dada movement, becoming one of the most respected abstract artists of his time. In 1950, he executed a relief for […]

Boris Aronson (1899 - 1980)

Theatre Stage Scenic Designer.  Born in Kiev, in the Russian Empire in present day Ukraine. He was the  son of a Jewish rabbi. Boris enrolled in art school during his youth. He became an apprentice to the designer Aleksandra Ekster, who introduced him to the directors Vsevolod Meyerhold and Alexander Tairov, who influenced Boris to […]

Peter Arno (1904 - 1968)

Cartoonist. Born Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr. to Edith Theresa Haymes and State Supreme Court Justice Curtis Arnoux Peters in New York City. He attended the venerable Hotchkiss boarding school and Yale University where he organized his own band, developing a reputation as a playboy. After leaving school he settled in New York’s Greenwinch Village, and […]

Henry Hugh Armstead (1828 - 1905)

Artist. Born in Bloomsbury, London, he trained first under his father, then at the Government School of Design at Somerset House and afterwards at private art schools. He also studied with Edward Hodges Baily. At the age of eighteen he went to work for the silversmiths Hunt and Roskell. His works included “Kean Testimonial”, a […]

Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (1887 - 1964)

Artist. He was an innovator in translating the elements of cubist painting into a sculptural form.  Family links:  Spouse:  Angelica Archipenko (1883 – 1957)* *Calculated relationship