Image: Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is highlighting the life and legacy of Natacha Rambova, whose portrait is currently on view in the museum’s portrait hall. A new UMFA blog feature presents Rambova as a multifaceted figure whose contributions extended from ballet and Hollywood to Egyptology, while also emphasizing her role as a contributor to the museum’s collection.
According to the museum, Rambova was a ballerina, Hollywood designer and actress, as well as one half of a celebrity power couple. The feature also points to her serious career in Egyptology, drawing attention to a period of her life that sits outside the better-known public image associated with the entertainment industry.
The museum’s account frames Rambova’s story through both biography and collecting. UMFA says that she donated a collection to the institution, making her part of the museum’s history as well as the subject of a portrait currently displayed for visitors. The available announcement does not identify the artist, date or medium of that portrait, nor does it specify which objects Rambova donated.
The feature arrives as the museum is placing particular emphasis on the development of its holdings. UMFA’s collection now totals more than 22,000 works of art and spans 5,000 years of human creativity from around the world, according to the institution. The museum says its collection has grown by 25 percent since the Marcia and John Price Museum Building opened in 2001.
That institutional context is also reflected in the museum’s 2026 programming. The special exhibition ‘For the Future: Collecting at the UMFA 2001–2026’ celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Price Museum Building by presenting notable acquisitions made over the past 25 years. A related curator talk, ‘Collecting For the Future,’ is scheduled for September 16, 2026, at 6 p.m. at UMFA, with Marcia and John Price Executive Director Gretchen Dietrich and curators Alisa McCusker, Emily Lawhead and Luke Kelly.
The Rambova feature is separate from that exhibition and event announcement. It is presented as a museum blog item rather than an exhibition listing, and no start or end date is supplied for the portrait’s display. The announcement was published on August 29, 2026, and directs readers to the museum’s account of Rambova’s life and the collection she donated.
