Tamara Lempitskaya's painting has become one of the symbols of the Art Deco era. Often biographers go to extremes, focusing on the vibrant social life of the artist. Do not forget that she was a genius of hoaxes and a socialite, but first of all, Tamara Lempicka completely devoted her life to painting. Despite the abundance of novels with women and men, art has always remained her most passionate passion.
Youth
The artist’s life story is full of white spots, and Tamara Lempicka herself is partly to blame. The biography was freely redrawn to appear in the most advantageous light. For example, at first, in order to hide her true age, she represented her daughter as her younger sister. She was born not in Moscow, not that - according to the artist herself - in Warsaw. And her name was not Tamara at all: at birth, the girl was christened Mary. Lempitsky is the name of the artist’s first husband. And here is another discrepancy: according to the official year of birth (1898), it turns out that Tadeusz Lempitsky was fascinated by a fourteen-year-old girl. It is possible, of course, that the Polish lawyer was an addict to nymphets, but with the same probability it can be assumed that Tamara lived for several years, and, according to some versions, the present year of her birth is 1895.
Be that as it may, some information remains reliable. The mother of the artist, Malvina Dekler, was what is called a secular lioness, father Boris Gorsky - a Russian banker of Jewish origin. A few years after the birth of his daughter, he disappeared without a trace, according to some of the versions - committed suicide.
The first acquaintance with painting happened when Malvina Dekler commissioned a portrait of a twelve-year-old daughter for one artist. Tamara did not like the picture at all and she said that she could have done better. In the same year, she and her grandmother go to Italy, where the girl gets acquainted with the masterpieces of classical art. At age 14, Tamara is sent to study in Switzerland, after which she ends up in St. Petersburg.
First successes
In St. Petersburg, Tamara met with her first husband, Tadeusz Lempicki, from whom the artist gave birth to her only daughter - Kiesetta. Looking ahead, it must be said that the girl was more interested in the mother as a model than as a daughter. Usually a girl lived with her grandmother and her mother saw very rarely. But the artist painted many of her portraits.
During the revolution, Tadeusz miraculously escaped execution, and the family emigrated to France. Here Tamara Lempicka begins to take painting lessons from A. Lot and M. Denis. Probably having inherited entrepreneurial talent from her father, she quickly learned to sell her paintings with great profit and arrange exhibitions. In 1922, the artist was already actively collaborating with the Autumn Salon and the Salon of Independents. At first, on canvases and catalogs, she signed the male pseudonym Lempitsky.
Heyday
In 1925, Tamara Lempicka writes 28 paintings especially for her first solo exhibition. One job at this time took her about three weeks. Equally, the artist loved high art and high society. Doors of fashionable salons and parties have always thrown open before her. She gladly gives herself to social entertainments, for inspiration starts numerous novels, she may not appear at home for weeks. Tadeusz was tired of this lifestyle and in 1927 fled from his wife to Poland. They divorced 4 years later, despite the artist's attempts to return him.
Towards the end of the 1920s, Tamara Lempicka takes over 50,000 francs for a portrait. In terms of today's rate, this is about $ 20,000. At this time, were written "Spring", "Kisetta on the balcony", "The height of summer", "Girl with gloves", "Saint-Moritz", "Beautiful Raffaella." This is the pinnacle of her fame, after thirty orders she was getting smaller and more critical. Art Deco was losing popularity, and with it Lempicka as an artist. She was still a welcome guest at social events, but her setbacks seriously bothered her.
Woman in green bugatti
Many call this work a self-portrait, the artist herself had too much in common with the portrait. Lempicka writes it in 1929. A little later, this work will fall on the cover of Die Dame. From now on, the portrait will be considered the embodiment of the era and the modern woman - strong, independent, free and sensual. The composition is built diagonally, which gives the canvas dynamics. The color is dominated by a combination of green and steel with ocher accents. The colors of the picture are radiant, extremely clean.
Life in America
After marriage to Baron Raul de Kuffner in 1933, the artist Tamara Lempicka left the name of her first husband, taking de sonorous prefix from the second. A new stage in her life begins, this time in America. If at the beginning of the decade trips were episodic, then by the beginning of World War II the family finally settled in New York. Lempicka herself called the United States a country of endless possibilities, but she turned out to be cruel to her. In America, the nickname “Baroness with a brush” stuck to her, criticism smashed the work to smithereens, and orders were getting smaller every year. The thirties include the work “Green Turban”, “Portrait of Ira P.”, “Portrait of Marjorie Ferry”, “Straw Hat”, “Woman with a Dove”. The artist suffers from depression and lack of demand. In the late 30s and 40s, she increasingly created paintings on a religious theme. The most common motive is the grieving Mother of God with tears in her eyes. In 1930 Lempicka wrote Theresa of Avila, one of his key works.
Theresa of Avila
This work is based on the baroque statue of Bernini "Ecstasy of St. Theresa." The woman’s face is given in very close-up, it occupies the main area of work. It reads complete detachment from the earthly world, immersion in other matters. Equally, it reads both suffering and bliss. The eyes of the saint let down by shadow contrast with full, sensual, “earthly” lips.
Immediately striking sculptural portraiture. All facial features - eyes, eyebrows, nose, lip fold - are subtly and clearly outlined. Perhaps the portrait is even more sculptural than the statue that served as the prototype. The folds of the bedspreads on the head of St. Theresa are textured. The cape is so voluminous that it protrudes from the plane of the canvas.
There are two primary colors in the color of the picture: steel and ocher. However, it does not look poor because of the abundance of half-tones in the workshop with chiaroscuro. The colors are bright and clear, as on other paintings by Lempitskaya, it seems that they do not shine. The picture is very expressive emotionally, it feels not only good mastery of the technique, but also the deep emotional involvement of the artist.
Sunset career
Lempicka spent 29 happy years married to a baron. This was the most passionate admirer of the artist, he idolized her and her paintings. When he died of a heart attack in 1962, Lempicka wrote that she had lost everything. She built a luxurious mansion in a Mexican province and moved there permanently. Until the last days, it was surrounded by luxury and young people. Next to her was daughter Kiesette, who forgave the carelessness of her mother and granddaughter. Among the latest works of the artist are “Surrealistic Hand”, “Portrait of Francoise Sagan”, “Bowl with Grapes”.
In 1972, a large-scale exhibition of the artist in Luxembourg was held. Here were exhibited her best paintings, painted in their heyday. Unexpectedly for everyone and for the artist herself, the exhibition was a resounding success among the younger generation. A lot of orders for the repetition of the famous paintings received the aging Tamara Lempicka. The paintings made as replicas, unfortunately, were significantly inferior to the originals. Over the years, the artist lost her former confidence in her hands and the clarity of color perception.
Lempicka died at the age of 81, in 1980. Undoubtedly, she would be pleased to know that today she is once again included in the galaxy of the most expensive artists. Retrospective exhibitions are held regularly. Her works are in private collections of many influential people. Madonna is one of the most devoted connoisseurs of her work. The ashes of the artist, as she bequeathed, was scattered over the Mexican volcano Popocatepetl. For posterity Lempick will forever remain a symbol of art deco and the turbulent beginning of the twentieth century.