A major development in Sempé’s career came when she had become connected with the leading auction house Drouot, one of the most important in France. This was a significant association for her professionally as Sempé would ultimately have her work sold there several times alongside the most preeminent artists of the 20th and 21st century. Her French period also left a lasting impression on her art. Sempé would continue to reflect on her years there and created work in watercolor within her Geometric series, called Nostalgie Art Deco, inspired and dedicated to the architecture of the city of Vichy.
In 2012 Sempé relocated to Miami, where she remained for ten years and became an American citizen. Her Miami period was most notable, however, for marking the most significant turning point of her career: transitioning from painting privately to participating in public exhibitions of her work. As in France and Cuba, she became immersed in Miami’s international arts community, and especially Unzueta Gallery, a key venue in the Little Havana cultural renaissance of the early 2000s. Unzueta Gallery featured the work of the celebrated late Cuban-Spanish painter Ramón Unzueta (1962–2012), as well as other Cuban artists such as Josevelio Rodríguez Abreu, Manolo Rodriguez, and Esteban Alvarez Buylla.
Sempé frequented the gallery and became acquainted with Enaida Unzueta, its owner and the primary representative of her brother Ramón. Enaida Unzueta became one of Sempé’s earliest U.S.-based supporters and promoters at the start of her American career. During her time in Miami, Sempé had also connected with several leading Contemporary Cuban artists such as AGalban, Adriano Nicot, and Ciro Quintana.
She quickly expanded her presence in the arts both locally as well as internationally, and steady demand for her work kept her producing at a high volume to meet this newfound interest. By 2018 Sempé had become established and was selected to exhibit in the Made in France exhibition, held during French Week 2018 in Miami’s renowned arts hub of Wynwood, where she represented France as a French citizen based in Miami. The exhibition was a major event organized by the Consulate General of France in Miami and the French American Chamber of Commerce in Miami along with several sponsors in support of the Beauty of Sight Foundation. Several VIPs were in attendance for the opening, most notably including the Consul General of France Clément Leclerc, President of the French-American Chamber of Commerce in Miami (FACC) Alain Ouelhadj, and the French music producer Andre Saint-Albin.
In 2018 Sempé also participated in the second annual Art from the Heart, where she exhibited and donated artwork in support of the Family Resource Center’s mission to assist abused children. The exhibition was held in The Moore Building, a renovated historic landmark dating to 1922 located at the heart of the Miami Design District. Sempé was invited back to participate in the 2019 installment which drew 500 people to its opening. In 2020, Sempé was selected to represent the United States in the Exposition Internationale D’Aquarelle (International Watercolor Exhibition) with her work Los Colores de la Amistad, from her Geometric series. The exhibition travelled intentionally to France and Vietnam.
During her Miami period Sempé’s art found itself in galleries and auctions across major cultural centers including London, Paris, New York City, Miami, Key West, and in California. Her work was also being exhibited and sold alongside internationally renowned artists Yayoi Kusama, Marc Chagall, and Rufino Tamayo as well as pioneering Cuban artists Wifredo Lam, Amelia Peláez, Agustín Cárdenas, and Carmen Herrera.
Now based in the scenic expanse of Nebraska, Sempé continues to see her artistic journey reach new audiences and milestones in unexpected ways. Just as 2018 marked a milestone in her exhibiting career that brought her work into diplomatic circles and high-end design settings, another pivotal shift came in 2024 as her work reached new levels of institutional recognition.
In June 2024, Sempé’s painting Le Retour featured on the cover of a published book of poetry that linked her back to roots in literature and was unveiled in the prominent bookstore Books & Books of Coral Gables, one of South Florida’s leading literary venues. In October 2024 Sempé was added into the permanent collection of the Alvin Sherman Library, one of the largest libraries in the state of Florida, marking her first inclusion into a major public collection. There her piece Fusion joins works by the likes of Salvador Dalí, Dale Chihuly, and Peter Max in the library’s art collection.
In December 2024 she was selected to participate in the historic and record-setting Forbidden Fruit exhibition, the largest documented exhibition of Cuban erotic art. Held in the Wilzig Erotic Art Museum (WEAM) of Miami Beach, the opening drew more than one thousand attendees and also marked Sempé’s first appearance in an Art Basel-affiliated exhibition. Two of her works were featured, each exhibited alongside giants of Cuban art, including Wifredo Lam and her paragon José Mijares, as well as Contemporary art market leaders Josignacio and Roberto Fabelo.
Following the success of the opening, it was announced that both displayed works were being accepted into WEAM’s permanent collection, marking Sempé’s first entry into a fine art museum. There Sempé joins other major names in the Wilzig Museum’s collection including Rembrandt, Toulouse-Lautrec, Klimt, Picasso, Dalí, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Fernando Botero.
With additional acquisitions into public collections set to be announced in 2025, it seems clear Sempé’s distinct brand of engaging with the unknowable has successfully cemented her institutional legacy in the arts within her lifetime — an honor few artists live to see.
