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J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3 | P E R S P E C T I V E 1 7 ADG Hall of Fame: Natacha Rambova B Y D AV I D M O R O N G , E D I T O R N E W S Art Director and costume designer Natacha Rambova has been inducted into the ADG Hall of Fame. Rambova had a relatively short career in designing for film, but her influence was notable, both as a woman working in a male-dominated field, and also for her use of contemporary styles such as art deco, art nouveau and modernism, as well as her use of historical references, including Egyptian, European and East Asian styles. Working in the early films of the 1920s, she influenced the work of later designers, including William Cameron Menzies, Cedric Gibbons and the costume designer Adrian. Born Winifred Shaughnessy in 1897 to a wealthy family in Salt Lake City, Rambova attended boarding schools in London before moving to New York at age 20 to study dance with a Russian company, where she performed, designed sets and costumes, and acquired her stage name of Natacha Rambova. In 1920, Rambova met Russian actress and producer Alla Nazimova, who would become her most important collaborator. They worked together on films such as Aphrodite, Camille and A Doll's House, creating avant-garde sets employing the language of art deco and modernism that were the fashion of the time. Their most notable work was the design of Salome, at the time billed as "America's first art film" that expanded the vocabulary of what film design could accomplish. Rambova is also known for her relationship with Rudolph Valentino, who she married in 1925, apparently before his previous marriage was actually legally ended, and for whom she designed costumes for a number of his films. After her divorce from Valentino in 1926, the year he also died, Rambova stepped away from Hollywood, but lived on for another forty years, acting on stage, opening a dress design studio, writing plays and books, and becoming a recognized expert in Egyptian religions. A. NATACHA RAMBOVA. B. ALLA NAZIMOVA IN CAMILLE. C. SCENE FRIOM SALOME. A B C