Thamar de Létay-Vachnadze served as the Artistic Director of the Sao Paulo Theater and held a prominent position within the creative elite of Paris. Her departure from Georgia was precipitated by the Soviet occupation, prompting her initial relocation to France before subsequently pursuing her artistic endeavors in Brazil.
Her affiliation with France traces its origins back to the 1930s. Before achieving recognition as an artist, she underwent a period of tutelage under the guidance of Madeline Vauthier and Bernard Hugues in Paris. In the year 1947, she entered matrimony with Redjeb Jordania, the son of Noe Jordania. However, this marital union proved to be brief and fraught with discontent. In 1952, the artist, accompanied by her mother and son, relocated to Brazil, leaving behind the bohemian ambiance of Paris.
Within her career, Thamar de Létay-Vachnadze engaged in the design of theatrical costumes, the creation of sketches for ballet decorations and attire, and contributed to performances at the Locarno Film Festival. Furthermore, she ventured into the realm of animated film production. In 1963, she returned to France, where she crafted exquisite sketches for the esteemed fashion house, Christian Dior. Her enduring legacy encompasses a vast array of artistic output, including over 300 sketches, 30 canvases, more than 100 photographs, manuscripts, and an extensive collection of archival materials.
In her artistic practice, the painter adeptly constructed wholly authentic and original scenes upon individual canvases, often employing a combination of oil, gouache, pastel, and occasionally egg tempera as her chosen media. Her romantic aesthetic conveys a sense of delicacy, tenderness, and poetic allure.
Spanning the decades between the 1960s and the 1980s, Thamar de Létay-Vachnadze showcased her work at prominent venues, including the French Cultural Center of Luxembourg and Salon Sofitel Group 36 in Paris. In 1985, a comprehensive exhibition of her art was hosted at the Gallery of Montparnasse in Paris.
Notably, despite opportunities to attain citizenship in both France and the Soviet Union, the artist declined both offers. Her heart and mind remained firmly tethered to her homeland, as she perpetually yearned to return to Georgia. Regrettably, this aspiration was never realized. Throughout her tenure in Europe, the artist chose to forgo French citizenship, a status she retained until the end of her life, as indicated on her personal documentation: a refugee from Georgia.
