caption death_date religion birth_place other_names name birth_date alt spouse image article_title birth_name occupation
'' , date unknown . the promised land '' self-portrait by lette valeska january 8 , 1985 judaism braunschweig , germany valeska heinemann lette valeska august 20 , 1885 `` , date unknown . the promised land '' self-portrait by lette valeska ernst heyman the promised land.jpg lette valeska
 valeska heinemann artist
lette valeska

lette valeska -lrb- august 20 , 1885 -- january 8 , 1985 -rrb- was a photographer , painter and sculptor in the hollywood community .
when her husband 's chemical plant was confiscated by the nazi regime , she left her homeland of germany and traveled with her husband and daughter before moving to new york city in 1937 .
in 1938 she left her husband and moved to los angeles , where she spent the rest of her life .
she began a photographic career of children 's portraits and quickly gained notoriety among hollywood stars .
she worked as an archivist for the pasadena art museum 's blue four collection .
at the end of world war ii , she organized a friendship correspondence between children in california and ryswyck , holland out of gratitude for ryswyck citizens ' assistance to holocaust refugees .
at age 50 , valeska began painting and at age 70 began sculpting .
she was featured in the emmy award winning nbc documentary `` the heart is not wrinkled '' in 1969 .
valeska 's photographs were always taken at her subjects ' homes rather than a studio , a method she used to capture real people alive in their own environments .
never having been formally trained as an artist , her artwork expresses her soul rather than technical proficiency .
valeska and galka scheyer are credited with introducing german expressionism to the southern california art scene through her work with the blue four .
