Tamara de Lempicka
Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980) “The Baroness with a Brush”
Tamara de Lempicka is considered the most famous female painter of the Art Deco Movement. Her style, influenced by Cubism, embodied the luxury and sophistication of a world eager to move past the pains of war.
Her journey to the top of her field was at times tumultuous, beginning with a privileged upbringing in Warsaw, a first marriage to a wealthy lawyer followed by another to a Baron which earned her the title, “Baroness with a Brush”. She was both a gifted artist and a highly controversial personality with a unique character and very open opinions which rarely proved subtle or tactful. Famous for her libido, she was bisexual and her affairs with both men and women were conducted in ways that were considered scandalous at the time. Her work combined with war and the stock market crash brought her from Warsaw to Paris, then to the United States and finally to Mexico. In each of these places, she mingled with the elite and made a name for herself in each of these circles, spreading her fame wide.
Tamara was big on portraits using the Art Deco style. The precision and attention to detail was her biggest score throughout her career and her paintings provide a charm and a highly individual style which is immediately recognisable as Lempicka.
Tamara de Lempicka was highly respected as an artist during her own lifetime which many others could not manage and many key galleries and museums were looking to pick up her original paintings, clearly identifying her as someone who was to be important in the future.
Christie’s sold her portrait of Marjorie Ferry on 5th February 2020 for £16,380,000.
📷 Self portrait, Tamara in a Green Bugatti, 1929
