A painter and an integral part of the cultural and artistic life of early-1900s Rive Gauche, Vassilieff studied with Matisse before establishing her own school. During World War I, she opened her studio to indigent artists – a sort of shelter as well as a house of culture, dance, and music. She came to fame for her portraits, in Cubist style, of dancers, famous friends (Picasso, Cocteau, Matisse) and for her puppets made with scraps. Marie Vassilieff tore down the boundaries between private and public spaces, and between fine and applied arts.
