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Rita Asfour
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United States
• 1933
Biography
An Impressionist Artist with a flair for the fanciful. Rita Asfour dedicated her life to the study and practice of art. While some artists dedicate their life to perfecting just one style, Rita managed to dabble in and master many forms of art throughout the span of her life. From classic portraiture to paper cast sculptures, Rita Asfour's works knew no bound. Her Pepperdine Ballet series documented in painting the lives and talent of young ballerinas bathed in pastel. While her glitter adorned Las Vegas Showgirls series paid homage to the women of Las Vegas' Jubilee.
Rita Asfour is the married name of Markrit Thomassian. Her Armenian father, Kaspar Thomassian, escaped the Armenian Holocaust in Turkey during World War I. Her mother, Gamila Khoury, suffered the same ravages of that war, in Aleppo, Syria. They both escaped and became refugees in Egypt, where Markrit (Rita Asfour) was born in 1933. Markrit (Asfour) went to school at the Lycee Francais in Cairo. In 1959, she graduated with a BA in art, from the Scuola Internazionale Italiana, Leonardo da Vinci.
After graduating, Markrit spent five years in Beirut, Lebanon, drawing colorful illustrations that decorated many magazines and books. Markrit arrived in Los Angeles in 1965. Her first interview got her a job at Universal Studio Tours, where she drew quick pastel sketches of tourists for $15 each. That same year she was married in Las Vegas and became Rita Asfour.
Only five years later, in 1970, Rita opened her own art gallery, Galerie Camille on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills. Malibu was Rita's home for 30 years. There, her landscapes and seascapes became infused with the natural beauty of the local ambiance. Pepperdine University ballet students inspired her ballet series after she saw them bouncing with excitement while getting ready before they performed on stage.
Rita retired in Las Vegas in 2012. After twice seeing the pageantry of the Jubilee Showgirls extravaganza at Bally's Casino, she quickly came out of retirement and went back to painting. This led to an exhibition at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2016.
In 2017, Vegas PBS aired a half-hour documentary about her, Rita Asfour: Art Her Way. In 2020, Rita was included in Vegas PBS' documentary, The Showgirl: A Las Vegas Icon. In August of 2021 the artist was once again commemorated by Vegas PBS at the Carnevale Gallery for Rita Asfour: A Retrospective. This tribute exhibition showcased the expanse of Asfour's artwork following her passing on June 29, 2021.
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