1. Sonja Sekula was an American artist linked with the abstract expressionist movement, notable for her activity as an "out" lesbian in the New York art world during the 1940s and early 1950s.
17 Facts About Sonja Sekula
1. 2.
Sonja Sekula met the surrealists in exile in New York during 1942.
3.
Sonja Sekula is buried in St Moritz as she had requested in a letter to her mother.
4.
Sonja Sekula was born in Lucerne on 8 April 1918 to a Swiss mother, Berta Huguenin, and a Hungarian father, Bela Sekula, a philatelist.
5.
Sonja Sekula lived in New York, New Mexico, Mexico, and in different cities in Europe.
6.
Sonja Sekula moved to New York in 1936, when her father moved his philatelic business there.
7.
Sonja Sekula attended school at Sarah Lawrence College but left after two years, entering the Art Students League where she studied under Dadaist George Grosz and Modernist Morris Kantor.
8.
In New York Sonja Sekula befriended American poet Carl Sandburg and met the surrealists in exile during 1942.
9.
Sonja Sekula returned to Switzerland with her family in 1955 and remained there for the rest of her life, although she did return to New York in 1957.
10.
In 1955 Sonja Sekula had a solo exhibition at Galerie Palette, Zurich.
11.
Sonja Sekula's work is in the collections of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Walker Art Center.
12.
Sonja Sekula was extremely passionate about her artwork, expressing how proud she was to be around all the other artists and movements in New York during the 1940s.
13.
Sonja Sekula was always one of the best in the class.
14.
Sonja Sekula's work was much more creative and moving than most; it always had great spirit.
15.
Sonja Sekula grew very close with him and his wife.
16.
Sonja Sekula was extremely open about her homosexuality, and made frequent references to it in her writings and journals.
17.
Sonja Sekula had a history of mental illness, having been admitted to several mental health clinics throughout her life.