Gemma taccogna bio
Gemma Taccogna
Italian-born visual artist (1923–2007)
Gemma Fane Taccogna | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 9, 1923 Bari, Apulia, Italy |
| Died | May 8, 2007(2007-05-08) (aged 83) Torrance, California, United States |
| Other names | Gemma Taccogna Walker, Gemma Walker, Gemma Del Rio, Gemma Taccogna Sexton, Gemma Taccogna de Sexton, Gemma Sexton |
| Education | Cooper Union, Art Students League of New York |
| Occupation(s) | Visual artist, educator |
| Known for | Papier-mâché, ceramics, painting |
| Spouse(s) | Claude Walker (m. 1945–?; divorce), Juan Del Rio Huidobro (m. 1952–?; divorced), Fred Sexton (m. 1960s–1969; divorced) |
| Children | 3 |
Gemma Fane Taccogna (1923–2007) was an Italian-born American and Mexican visual artist and educator. She was known for her work in papier-mâché and ceramics, and as well as in painting. Her artwork became collector's items starting in the 1960s. She lived in Mexico City, Palos Verdes Estates, California, and Torrance, California for many years. Taccogna also went by the names Gemma Walker,Gemma Del Rio, and Gemma Sexton.
Early life and education
Gemma Taccogna was born on May 9, 1923, in Bari, Apulia, Italy. She was the daughter of Giuseppe Taccogna and María Putingnano. She was around one year old when she moved with her family to Mount Vernon, New York. She graduated from Evander Childs High School in the Bronx.
Taccogna attended Cooper Union, and the Art Students League of New York. She studied under Marc Chagall, Eric Fromm, and William Zorach.
Career
Mount Vernon, New York
In 1945, she married her high school classmate, Claude Walker, who had been enrolled the United States Army during World War II.
Taccogna worked as the director of the Mount Vernon Art Center in Mount Vernon, New York. She was active in showing her work at the Gemma Taccogna RIP GEMMA SKH Gemma Taccogna Sexton Interview Notes/Info Mr. Beckstrand, ca 1926. (Palos Verdes Social Review, October 1964) Born in Utah in 1901, Mildred attended the University of Utah where she met and married her husband, Grant Beckstrand, who became a renowned cancer surgeon. After graduation, the couple moved to California, ultimately settling in Palos Verdes Estates. Mildred lived on the Peninsula for over 50 years and was a noted artist, civic leader, philanthropist and art collector. An artist, Mildred also developed leadership skills. She was a founding member of St. Mary's Hospital Guild (Long Beach), organizing Director of Palos Verdes Savings & Loan, President of the PV Arts Center, and Assistant Director of Civil Defense for the Palos Verdes Peninsula during World War II. She also worked on a number of fundraising campaigns for political candidates. In 1946, as a write-in candidate, Mildred was elected to the Palos Verdes Estates City Council as its first woman council member. Upon the death of her husband, she became active in fundraising efforts to fight cancer. To honor his career, she endowed a chair at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Mildred died in 1994 at the age of 93. Ms. Chadwick, ca 1962. (Palos Verdes Social Review, September 1962) Margaret Lee, born in Utah, was one of 8 children. She attended Wooster College in Ohio but transferred to Stanford University where she graduated with a degree in English literature. She began her career in education as principal of a school in rural Nevada. When Margaret Lee was visiting her brother in Shanghai, she was introduced to Joseph Chadwick, a naval officer. The couple married and had three children. In the 1930's, Lt. Commander Chadwick's tour brought the family to San Pedro, where the children were enrolled in public school. Both parents found the schools unsatisfactory and deficient in academic standards. "Education is the #1 responsibility of parents, teachers and school boards," s American artist (1907–1995) Fred Sexton (June 3, 1907 – September 11, 1995) was an American artist and creator of the Maltese Falcon statuette prop for the 1941 Warner Bros. film production, The Maltese Falcon. During the 1930s and 1940s, Sexton was championed by Los Angeles Times Art Critic Arthur Millier, and his work was collected by Los Angeles-area art collectors including actor Edward G. Robinson and movie director John Huston. Sexton also taught and led the Art Students League of Los Angeles between 1949 and 1953. Fred Rafael Sexton was born on June 3, 1907, in Goldfield, Nevada, to parents Pauline Magdalena (née Jaffe) and Jeremiah "Jerry" Sexton. He was of Irish, Jewish, and Italian descent. Sexton completed his first painting while still an adolescent. In 1929, Los Angeles Times art critic Arthur Millier viewed a small self-portrait by Sexton at a Los Angeles County Museum of Art show called “The Younger Painters.” Millier wrote that the "special hero of the moment seems to us to be one James (sic) Sexton… He transcends the ordinary sounding subject matter, making of this tiny panel a painting at once decoratively beautiful and highly expressive." Sexton commenced studies under Stanton Macdonald-Wright at the Art Students League of Los Angeles, where he met Gwain Harriette Noot. The couple married in June 1932, and briefly relocated to France, where Sexton studied briefly with Morgan Russell. The Sextons had a child and Gwain and the baby returned to the U.S. in 1933. In 1935, Fred returned to the U.S. after a trip to Italy. In 1935, Sexton’s paintings were exhibited at the Stendahl Galleries in Los Angeles. A Los Angeles Times review described Sexton’s work as “first-rank museum quality done by an almost unknown Los Angeles painter…masterpieces of the highest order.” September 28, 2019
Los Angeles, CaliforniaBorn May 10, 1923-Died May 8, 2007
“Spring Flowers” by Gemma
In the summer of 2003, just a few months after the publication of my first book, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder, I was invited to give an author book signing in Torrance, California.
As is common in all my presentation, after giving an overall brief summary of the roles of the two primary suspects, my father George Hodel and his accomplice, Fred Sexton, I concluded my talk and opened it up to an audience Q&A.
An unknown woman of forty-something raised her hand and upon calling on her she responded by saying, “I know you are telling the truth. Fred Sexton was my step-father and he molested me when I was a child and then left to Mexico.” (The audience immediately fell to a hushed silence and all I could say was, “could you please remain after the signing as I would like to talk to you.”
We talked that night and she identified herself to me as Gemma (named after her mother) a daughter from Gemma’s prior marriage and informed me she had two brothers, Juan and Zen. She provided me with contact information for her mother and I called that evening and a date and time was set for me to interview Gemma Taccogna Sexton at her apartment in Torrance.
Skh Note- Below are my original notes from 2003, however, I have redacted certain portions that relate and refer to yet undisclosed references which connect to additional criminal behavior and will be presented in a future publication “The Early Years.”
(June 17, 2003 interview Redondo Beach, present: Roberta McCreary, Gemma Taccogna’s daughter Gemma (48) and son Juan (50)
Gemma is Italian, age 80. Parents came through Ellis Island. Met Fred Sexton when she was a single mother of three. Two sons and a daughter. (Juan, Gemma, and Zen) Lived in Mexico. Highly succe
PV Foremothers
Fred Sexton
Early life
Career and exhibitions