Alexandra Nechita (born August 27, 1985) is a

Romanian-American Romanian Americans () are Americans who have Romanian ancestry. According to the 2023 American Community Survey, 425,738 Americans indicated Romanian as their first or second ancestry, however other sources provide higher estimates, which a ...

cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

painter and philanthropist. At age 12 she was dubbed the "Petite

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

" by the media and the art community. She has been praised for her paintings and vision of art.

Early life and education

Nechita was born in

Vaslui Vaslui (), a city in eastern Romania, is the seat of Vaslui County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia. The city administers five villages: Bahnari, Brodoc, Moara Grecilor, Rediu, and Viișoara. History Archaeological surveys indicate t ...

, three months after her father, Niki, escaped from

Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

. 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 California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, 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 An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and acrylics were her tools. She had her first

solo exhibition A solo show or solo exhibition is an art exhibition, exhibition of the work of only one artist. Rather than a group of artists who collaborate to form an exhibition. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photogr ...

at age eight, at the public library in Whittier,

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

. 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 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to work at the Mourlot Studios. In the same year, she became the youngest artist to sign with International Art Publishers. 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." Nechita came to national attention in early 1997, when she was chosen to design the 39th Annual Grammy Awards Program. Nechita has been a guest on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

'' and has appeared with numerous celebrities, including

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. In addition to talk show appearances, she has played herself on the teen sitcom ''

Boy Meets World ''Boy Meets World'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September1993 and May2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews ( Ben Savage) and his friends and f ...

'' 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

. She was known as a

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

until late in her teens, and routinely sold her paintings for $100,000 or more. In November 1999, Nechita was selected by the

World Federation of United Nations Associations The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) (French: ''Fédération Mondiale des Associations pour les Nations Unies'', FMANU) was founded in 1946 as a Federation of national associations. Its objectives are to promote the values ...

to lead a Global Arts Initiative involving more than 100 nations. In 2005, Alexandra Nechita unveiled her

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Peace Monument for Asia in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, to be displayed at the

Catholic High School Catholic schools are parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school system. In 201 ...

. Her artwork has been sold and displayed at various locations in the world and her collectors include

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American former comedian, actress, television host, writer, and producer. She began her career in stand-up comedy in the early 1980s, gaining national attention with a 1986 appearance on '' ...

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her Melissa Etheridge (album), eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billbo ...

Lee Iacocca Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca ( ; October 15, 1924 – July 2, 2019) was an American automobile executive who developed the Ford Mustang, Lincoln Continental Mark III, and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and then reviv ...

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

and

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...

of the rock group Kiss. The theatre at her high school, Lutheran High School of Orange County is named after her. Nechita is on the Board of Selectors of

Jefferson Awards for Public Service The Jefferson Awards Foundation was created in 1972 by the American Institute for Public Service. The Jefferson Awards are given at both local and national levels. Local winners are ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectatio ...

Media

Nechita was interviewed by

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Nicole Lapin Nicole Lapin (born March 7, 1984) is an American television news anchor, author, and businesswoman. She is known for being an American news anchor on CNBC, CNN and Bloomberg. Lapin also served as a finance correspondent for ''Morning Joe'' on MS ...

on the series ''Young People Who Rock'' in November 2007. She has appeared on television news and talk shows around the world, including

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'', ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

'' and ''

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.'' She also made an in an episode of ABC's ''

.'' She has received numerous awards and honors which include Outstanding Artist of the Year (Lincoln Center for Arts

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

); Most Fascinating Woman of the Year (''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th centur ...

in conjunction with CBS TV''); Outstanding Young person Award (

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan); and Woman of the Year by the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

Personal life

She graduated from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in 2008 with a degree in Fine Arts and currently lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In January 2014, she married longtime boyfriend Dimitry Tcharfas. She has a daughter and a son.

References

External links

* * *
Sienna Fine Art profileAlexandra Nechita Arts & Entertainment
''The Boston Globe''

by Jit Fong Chin, June 23, 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nechita, Alexandra 1985 births Living people People from Vaslui Romanian muralists 21st-century Romanian painters 21st-century Romanian women painters 21st-century Romanian sculptors 21st-century Romanian women sculptors Romanian emigrants to the United States University of California, Los Angeles alumni Painters from California Sculptors from California Child artists American cubist artists Romanian cubist artists Women muralists American women muralists American philanthropists 21st-century American women painters 21st-century American painters