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John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA; National Archives Records Administration
Bernard Lamotte
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA; National Archives Records Administration

Bernard Lamotte

American, b. France, 1903-1983
Attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and studied painting under Fernand-Anne-Piestre Cormon 191854-1924), then Lucien Simon (1861-1945), the portraitist and genre painter. Married the widow of Twentieth Century Fox president Sidney R. Kent, Lilyan White Kent, a painter and sculptor, then was introduced to such stars as Marlene Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin, and Greta Garbo. Had a studio in Montmartre called Le Bocal [Fish Bowl], where Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote "Le petit Prince." Knew Picasso and Utrillo. Traveled widely, as far away as Tahiti and India. Had a studio over Le Grenouille Restaurant on 52nd Street in New York.