The Piatigorsky house in Brentwood

USC musicologist student Meagan Mason goes through cellist Gregor Piatigorsky’s music at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.  (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

Yossi Govrin, director of the Santa Monica Art Studios, sifts through photos of polymath Jacqueline Piatigorsky as he prepares for her exhibition in September. Piatigorsky, who died two years ago, was a sculptor, chess champion and tennis player.  (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

Yossi Govrin looks at negatives of Jacqueline Piatigorsky’s sculptures as he prepares for her exhibition in September.  (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

Yossi Govrin of Santa Monica Art Studios sorts through a box of photos, letters and books by Jacqueline Piatigorsky as he prepares for her exhibition in September. Her fascination with chess had begun at age 6 when she was recovering from peritonitis and a nurse taught her the game.  (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

Housekeeper Catalina Caldera, front center, and caregiver Lada Mikulina, second from left, with children Anastasia Naydina, 12, left, and Jeffrey Naydin, 11, look at a photograph of Jacqueline Piatigorsky and a sculpture of cellist Gregor Piatigorsky at Santa Monica Art Studios.  (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

Joram Piatigorsky, son of Gregor and Jacqueline Piatigorsky, speaks at an exhibition of Jacqueline’s sculptures at Santa Monica Art Studios in September. Joram, a Caltech PhD, had a long career as an eye researcher and now lives in Bethesda, Md.   (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

Eric Drachman, son of Joram’s sister, Jephta Piatigorsky Drachman, uses an iPhone to connect with relatives at an exhibition of Jacqueline Piatigorsky’s sculptures.  (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

A portrait of Jacqueline Piatigorsky, wife of cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, at an exhibition of her sculptures at Santa Monica Art Studios. She was a daughter of Baron Edouard de Rothschild who grew up in a Parisian palace filled with paintings by Goya, Fragonard and Rubens.  (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)