Tamara de LEMPICKA (1898-1980)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Eastern Europe
Chronology : 1925 1927 1928 1929 1930 1933
See also : Eastern Europe
Chronology : 1925 1927 1928 1929 1930 1933
Intro
Maria Gorska led her artistic career as no woman had done before her. She desired a free, rich and worldly life. Aged 18, she chooses a husband who can offer such criteria and becomes Maria Lempicka. Pushed away by the Russian revolution, they arrive in Paris. She takes as her artist name Tamara de Lempicka, sometimes spelled Lempitzka for inviting to the correct pronunciation of her name in French.
The openly bisexual young woman appeals the wealthy clients to whom she proposes to realize their portraits. She studies the paintings of the Italian Renaissance and offers soft colors and sharp realistic lines barely altered by the cubism that André Lhote had taught to her.
The elite conquered by Tamara dresses according to fashion. In addition to their pictorial quality, her paintings remain a testimony and even a symbol of the Roaring Twenties.
The reputation of sexual freedom of the Italian aristocracy suits her purpose. In 1925, she leaves for new adventures. It succeeded : the young dandies invite her in their bed.
The portraits are made with bold angles. The Marquis d'Afflito is nonchalant, slumped on a sofa, but he is handsome and ready to intervene. This oil on canvas 81 x 130 cm was sold for $ 4.6M by Christie's on November 7, 2012, lot 61.
Tamara made two portraits of the Marquis Sommi who was one of her lovers in the same Italian getaway. The vertical format is more sober and may be compared with Zborowski's friends painted by Modigliani in the previous decade. One of them, 100 x 73 cm, was sold for $ 4.3M by Christie's on 3 November 2009. The other portrait of Sommi, 135 x 71 cm, passed at Sotheby's on November 14, 2016, lot 31.
The openly bisexual young woman appeals the wealthy clients to whom she proposes to realize their portraits. She studies the paintings of the Italian Renaissance and offers soft colors and sharp realistic lines barely altered by the cubism that André Lhote had taught to her.
The elite conquered by Tamara dresses according to fashion. In addition to their pictorial quality, her paintings remain a testimony and even a symbol of the Roaring Twenties.
The reputation of sexual freedom of the Italian aristocracy suits her purpose. In 1925, she leaves for new adventures. It succeeded : the young dandies invite her in their bed.
The portraits are made with bold angles. The Marquis d'Afflito is nonchalant, slumped on a sofa, but he is handsome and ready to intervene. This oil on canvas 81 x 130 cm was sold for $ 4.6M by Christie's on November 7, 2012, lot 61.
Tamara made two portraits of the Marquis Sommi who was one of her lovers in the same Italian getaway. The vertical format is more sober and may be compared with Zborowski's friends painted by Modigliani in the previous decade. One of them, 100 x 73 cm, was sold for $ 4.3M by Christie's on 3 November 2009. The other portrait of Sommi, 135 x 71 cm, passed at Sotheby's on November 14, 2016, lot 31.
1925 Nu adossé
2012 SOLD for $ 5.5M by Sotheby's
A sexually sensitive Nu adossé dated 1925 was signed T. de Lempitzki, the masculine version disguising by precaution Tamara's gender. This very early opus was exhibited in the same year in her solo exhibition 'Tamara de Lempitzka' in Milan and in the Parisian Salon d'Automne.
The mid length nude young woman with a chubby flesh is comfortably contorted in a green sofa, in a slight contrapposto. The head of the enticing beauty is bent to the left to pose the cheek on the shoulder and the crossed arms hide the breast. The gaze is sideways. At that time Tamara was inspired by selfies and by movie stars such as Bette Davis as evidenced by period photos.
Resurfacing after 86 years out of view, this oil on canvas 81 x 54 cm was sold for $ 5.5M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on May 2, 2012, lot 46. Please watch the video shared by the auction house before it was withdrawn on June 25, 2024, lot 22.
Selfies cannot please for long the bisexual artist. In 1927 she selects Rafaëla during a chance wandering. That brunette matches Tamara's quest of the ideal woman at the same time when the blonde Marie-Thérèse Walter matches Picasso's.
Le Rêve, painted in similar dimensions in 1927 and sub-titled Rafaëla sur fond vert, is a remake of the Nu adossé using now the face lines and the dark hair in the fashion of the movie star Louise Brooks. It was sold for $ 8.5M by Sotheby's on November 2, 2011.
The mid length nude young woman with a chubby flesh is comfortably contorted in a green sofa, in a slight contrapposto. The head of the enticing beauty is bent to the left to pose the cheek on the shoulder and the crossed arms hide the breast. The gaze is sideways. At that time Tamara was inspired by selfies and by movie stars such as Bette Davis as evidenced by period photos.
Resurfacing after 86 years out of view, this oil on canvas 81 x 54 cm was sold for $ 5.5M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Sotheby's on May 2, 2012, lot 46. Please watch the video shared by the auction house before it was withdrawn on June 25, 2024, lot 22.
Selfies cannot please for long the bisexual artist. In 1927 she selects Rafaëla during a chance wandering. That brunette matches Tamara's quest of the ideal woman at the same time when the blonde Marie-Thérèse Walter matches Picasso's.
Le Rêve, painted in similar dimensions in 1927 and sub-titled Rafaëla sur fond vert, is a remake of the Nu adossé using now the face lines and the dark hair in the fashion of the movie star Louise Brooks. It was sold for $ 8.5M by Sotheby's on November 2, 2011.
1927 La Tunique Rose
2019 SOLD for $ 13.4M by Sotheby's
Tamara de Lempicka appreciated that success is the result of personal initiative. She began her career as a portrait artist in Paris, including a worldly escapade in Milan in 1925, while making clear statements on her bisexual desires. Some freedom brought by Hollywood made this kind of attitude already possible.
Her husband's name is Tadeusz Lempicki. Some of Tamara's early paintings are signed T. de Lempitzki, probably to mark her manly tendencies. She looks for the most beautiful women and invites them to pose on her couch, naked or dressed.
Tamara meets Rafaëla at the Bois de Boulogne. She will tell later that she had seen how passers-by stared at the young woman. Rafaëla is pretty and chubby, with her hair styled in the fashion of Louise Brooks. Her portraits by Tamara are carnal, in the signature neat lines of the artist, revealing a love empathy between the two women.
On November 12, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 13.4M from a lower estimate of $ 6M La Tunique rose, oil on canvas 73 x 116 cm painted in the same year, lot 43 estimated $ 6M. Reclining on the same green sofa, Rafaëla wears a little dress no more covering than a night suit. The expression is nice, with a contrast between the shadow on the eyes and the light on the red mouth.
Her husband's name is Tadeusz Lempicki. Some of Tamara's early paintings are signed T. de Lempitzki, probably to mark her manly tendencies. She looks for the most beautiful women and invites them to pose on her couch, naked or dressed.
Tamara meets Rafaëla at the Bois de Boulogne. She will tell later that she had seen how passers-by stared at the young woman. Rafaëla is pretty and chubby, with her hair styled in the fashion of Louise Brooks. Her portraits by Tamara are carnal, in the signature neat lines of the artist, revealing a love empathy between the two women.
On November 12, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 13.4M from a lower estimate of $ 6M La Tunique rose, oil on canvas 73 x 116 cm painted in the same year, lot 43 estimated $ 6M. Reclining on the same green sofa, Rafaëla wears a little dress no more covering than a night suit. The expression is nice, with a contrast between the shadow on the eyes and the light on the red mouth.
1927 Le Rêve
2011 SOLD for $ 8.5M by Sotheby's
Le Rêve, painted by Lempicka, is also titled Rafaëla sur fond vert. The artist was 29 years old when she painted this work in 1927. She loved women, and was able to establish communication with her model.
The young woman naked to the waist is comfortably nestled in a green sofa. The gaze is strong and straight. She looks confident like a nude of Modigliani, and her arms resting on the chest are a charming gesture, not a protection.
This oil on canvas 81 x 59 cm was sold for $ 8.5M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on November 2, 2011. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
With her skill for doing the portraits of her contemporaries, Tamara de Lempicka can however not be attached to any school of painting, and even better she probably inspired Picasso.
The 1920s have witnessed the dramatic expansion of the films. The image of the ideal woman interested, or perhaps obsessed, Lempicka. Her characters with sharp lines and with hairstyles typical of her time are the mirror views of the emerging Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks.
The young woman naked to the waist is comfortably nestled in a green sofa. The gaze is strong and straight. She looks confident like a nude of Modigliani, and her arms resting on the chest are a charming gesture, not a protection.
This oil on canvas 81 x 59 cm was sold for $ 8.5M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on November 2, 2011. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
With her skill for doing the portraits of her contemporaries, Tamara de Lempicka can however not be attached to any school of painting, and even better she probably inspired Picasso.
The 1920s have witnessed the dramatic expansion of the films. The image of the ideal woman interested, or perhaps obsessed, Lempicka. Her characters with sharp lines and with hairstyles typical of her time are the mirror views of the emerging Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks.
1928-1930 Kizette en Rose
2023 SOLD for $ 14.8M by Christie's
Born in 1916 in Saint-Petersburg, Marie-Christine later known as Kizette was the unique child of Tadeusz and Tamara Lempicki. The pretty blue eyed blonde was as a little girl a logical model for the paintings of her mother.
Painted in 1927, Kizette au balcon features the 11 year old girl with a childish face. A schematized city is viewed behind the balcony.
In the same year Kizette en rose, oil on canvas 116 x 73 cm, features the same girl in a time projection from the real early teenage to a fashionable pre adolescent with an elongated body. She is seated on a balcony with an angular harbor and ships in the background. Cleanly dressed in a pale pink attire and white socks and shoes nicely contrasting over her summer suntan, she looks upwards with a book in her hand. A missing shoe increases the intimacy.
This painting was purchased in 1928 by the Musée d'Arts de Nantes. Tamara de Lempicka painted a replica in the same size and technique between 1928 and 1930. Kizette en rose II was sold for $ 14.8M from a lower estimate of $ 7M by Christie's on November 9, 2023, lot 10 B.
Painted in 1927, Kizette au balcon features the 11 year old girl with a childish face. A schematized city is viewed behind the balcony.
In the same year Kizette en rose, oil on canvas 116 x 73 cm, features the same girl in a time projection from the real early teenage to a fashionable pre adolescent with an elongated body. She is seated on a balcony with an angular harbor and ships in the background. Cleanly dressed in a pale pink attire and white socks and shoes nicely contrasting over her summer suntan, she looks upwards with a book in her hand. A missing shoe increases the intimacy.
This painting was purchased in 1928 by the Musée d'Arts de Nantes. Tamara de Lempicka painted a replica in the same size and technique between 1928 and 1930. Kizette en rose II was sold for $ 14.8M from a lower estimate of $ 7M by Christie's on November 9, 2023, lot 10 B.
1928 Romana de la Salle
2022 SOLD for $ 14M by Sotheby's
In the roaring twenties (in French the années folles), Tamara de Lempicka is the illustrator of dandies and of what was called the new woman.
While cultivating her own glamour, the artist appreciated the grand life that daring women managed to live in full visibility and exuberance. Her portrait of the Duchesse de la Salle dressed for horse riding in a masculine fashion with an open collar, oil on canvas 162 x 97 cm painted in 1925, is typical. It was sold for $ 4.45M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2009, lot 26.
That 38 year old Greek born androgynous Lady was not a fancy aristocrat but a former duchess, having divorced in 1911 from the duc de la Salle de Rochemaure. Her full length portrait is both inspired from 16th or 17th Mannerism in her attitude and staging and of Cubism in the stylized nocturnal cityscape.
In 1928 Lempicka painted the portrait of the Duchesse's daughter Romana de la Salle de Rochemaure, a sculptural 22 year old woman. This oil on canvas 116 x 73 cm was sold for $ 14M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2022, lot 115. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Its style is inspired by Renaisssance and Mannerism in the follow of the portrait of her mother. The bright lipstick is in the style of the period Hollywood stars. The dark gaze and severe mouth are commanding. The flying drape of her dress appeals for a new female freedom.
While cultivating her own glamour, the artist appreciated the grand life that daring women managed to live in full visibility and exuberance. Her portrait of the Duchesse de la Salle dressed for horse riding in a masculine fashion with an open collar, oil on canvas 162 x 97 cm painted in 1925, is typical. It was sold for $ 4.45M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2009, lot 26.
That 38 year old Greek born androgynous Lady was not a fancy aristocrat but a former duchess, having divorced in 1911 from the duc de la Salle de Rochemaure. Her full length portrait is both inspired from 16th or 17th Mannerism in her attitude and staging and of Cubism in the stylized nocturnal cityscape.
In 1928 Lempicka painted the portrait of the Duchesse's daughter Romana de la Salle de Rochemaure, a sculptural 22 year old woman. This oil on canvas 116 x 73 cm was sold for $ 14M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2022, lot 115. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Its style is inspired by Renaisssance and Mannerism in the follow of the portrait of her mother. The bright lipstick is in the style of the period Hollywood stars. The dark gaze and severe mouth are commanding. The flying drape of her dress appeals for a new female freedom.
1929-1930 La Musicienne
2018 SOLD for $ 9.1M by Christie's
La Musicienne is an allegory of music by Tamara de Lempicka featuring a seated handsome woman playing a mandolin with an evasive gaze. The sitter is Ira, the long time lover, confidante and frequent model of the artist.
Lempicka started working on it in 1929 and completed it after a visit to America that was marred by the financial crisis.
This oil on canvas 116 x 73 cm was sold for $ 9.1M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on November 11, 2018, lot 21A.
Lempicka started working on it in 1929 and completed it after a visit to America that was marred by the financial crisis.
This oil on canvas 116 x 73 cm was sold for $ 9.1M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on November 11, 2018, lot 21A.
1930 Les Jeunes Femmes
2020 SOLD for $ 9.4M by Christie's
Tamara de Lempicka knew how to propel herself into Parisian high society through her talents as a portrait painter. She resolutely expresses the desire of good life in the Roaring Twenties, when women's skins begin to be revealed. The women in his paintings are neat and healthy, in warm colors and pleasing curves that appeal to partners. They are well in their time even when they are naked, by the bob hairstyle, the lipstick and the nails, and also by the proud assurance of their attitude.
She has no sexual taboos and is a pretty woman herself whom her admirers like to compare to Garbo. Beside her social portraits, she paints anonymous women who are often self-portraits or pictures of her favorite lovers, Ira and Rafaela.
On October 6, 2020, Christie's sold for $ 9.4M from a lower estimate of $ 6M Les Jeunes femmes, oil on panel 73 x 38 cm painted in 1930, lot 29. This work is also titled Les Deux amies in an assimilation with the couples of women by Toulouse-Lautrec.
They are naked. The slight chiaroscuro shows that they are outside. The brunette is leaning on a railing on which the blonde is seated in a dominant position. Despite their physical proximity, their intimacy is not sexual in this picture. They are both looking at something happening under their balcony.
The blonde's resemblance to Tamara seems obvious. The brunette, whose face is not visible, may be Ira.
She has no sexual taboos and is a pretty woman herself whom her admirers like to compare to Garbo. Beside her social portraits, she paints anonymous women who are often self-portraits or pictures of her favorite lovers, Ira and Rafaela.
On October 6, 2020, Christie's sold for $ 9.4M from a lower estimate of $ 6M Les Jeunes femmes, oil on panel 73 x 38 cm painted in 1930, lot 29. This work is also titled Les Deux amies in an assimilation with the couples of women by Toulouse-Lautrec.
They are naked. The slight chiaroscuro shows that they are outside. The brunette is leaning on a railing on which the blonde is seated in a dominant position. Despite their physical proximity, their intimacy is not sexual in this picture. They are both looking at something happening under their balcony.
The blonde's resemblance to Tamara seems obvious. The brunette, whose face is not visible, may be Ira.
1932 Marjorie Ferry
2020 SOLD for £ 16.3M by Christie's
Tamara de Lempicka manages her career with the skill of a businesswoman. To make her own style of portraits easily recognizable, she conceives a synthesis between the precise features of the Italian Mannerists and the elongated naked bodies by Ingres. The shape and color should remain simple and natural, in the opposite of the impressionism. For the background atmosphere, she is inspired by Lhote's cubism.
After the first successes, she gains her autonomy. In 1928 she buys an apartment in Paris. After having it furnished in the modernist style by Mallet-Stevens, she uses it as a workshop, showroom and social salon. She no longer needs her husband. By divorcing, she appears as a liberated woman who influences the lifestyle.
The young men were decimated by the war and the survivors lost their landmarks. They constitute the "lost generation". Social relationships are transformed to the advantage of the most enterprising women for whom Greta Garbo becomes the reference.
The financial crisis of 1929 accentuated these issues. The eccentric aristocrats who had constituted her early clientele are ruined. The nouveaux riches seek ostentatious signs of the sustainability of their power. They buy luxury cars and marry the prettiest women. Lempicka paints the portraits of these young ladies, with an intimacy favored by her bisexuality. Her only competitor in Paris is Van Dongen.
The portraits of women painted at that time by Lempicka display a domineering and inaccessible attitude, with a gaze in the shade and a small mocking smile. The drapes are of a great variety, without necessarily relying on the fashion of the period.
This phase ends in 1934 when she marries a wealthy Hungarian baron. She no longer needs her clients and her themes become more allegorical without however changing their style.
Painted in 1932, the portrait of Marjorie Ferry is an oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm. Marjorie is an English cabaret singer who married a wealthy financier. The husband had commissioned that artwork, which will be kept by the descendants until 1995.
The pretty blonde is naked above the hips, and wrapped in a large satin drapery that makes her compare to an antique goddess. The well-lit back is sensual and the gaze turned to the spectator is a little cheeky. She is standing behind a wooden bench that can be a theater accessory and the Hollywoodian background consists of Greek columns. She lowers her head to stay in the frame, like Audubon's flamingo.
This painting was sold for $ 4.9M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2009, lot 24. and for £ 16.3M by Christie's on February 5, 2020, lot 8.
After the first successes, she gains her autonomy. In 1928 she buys an apartment in Paris. After having it furnished in the modernist style by Mallet-Stevens, she uses it as a workshop, showroom and social salon. She no longer needs her husband. By divorcing, she appears as a liberated woman who influences the lifestyle.
The young men were decimated by the war and the survivors lost their landmarks. They constitute the "lost generation". Social relationships are transformed to the advantage of the most enterprising women for whom Greta Garbo becomes the reference.
The financial crisis of 1929 accentuated these issues. The eccentric aristocrats who had constituted her early clientele are ruined. The nouveaux riches seek ostentatious signs of the sustainability of their power. They buy luxury cars and marry the prettiest women. Lempicka paints the portraits of these young ladies, with an intimacy favored by her bisexuality. Her only competitor in Paris is Van Dongen.
The portraits of women painted at that time by Lempicka display a domineering and inaccessible attitude, with a gaze in the shade and a small mocking smile. The drapes are of a great variety, without necessarily relying on the fashion of the period.
This phase ends in 1934 when she marries a wealthy Hungarian baron. She no longer needs her clients and her themes become more allegorical without however changing their style.
Painted in 1932, the portrait of Marjorie Ferry is an oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm. Marjorie is an English cabaret singer who married a wealthy financier. The husband had commissioned that artwork, which will be kept by the descendants until 1995.
The pretty blonde is naked above the hips, and wrapped in a large satin drapery that makes her compare to an antique goddess. The well-lit back is sensual and the gaze turned to the spectator is a little cheeky. She is standing behind a wooden bench that can be a theater accessory and the Hollywoodian background consists of Greek columns. She lowers her head to stay in the frame, like Audubon's flamingo.
This painting was sold for $ 4.9M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2009, lot 24. and for £ 16.3M by Christie's on February 5, 2020, lot 8.
1932 Madame M
2009 SOLD for $ 6.1M by Christie's
Female portraits made by Lempicka are powerful, with clean lines and colors that can be compared to the French Cubists including André Lhote. Her sitters have a strong and not necessarily easy personality, that the artist reinforces by a darkening of the face at eye level.
Portrait de Madame M, 100 x 65 cm painted in 1932, was sold for $ 6.1M by Christie's on May 6, 2009.
Portrait of Mrs. Bush, 122 x 66 cm painted in 1929, which sold $ 4.6M in Christie's on May 4, 2004, lot 36.
Portrait de Madame M, 100 x 65 cm painted in 1932, was sold for $ 6.1M by Christie's on May 6, 2009.
Portrait of Mrs. Bush, 122 x 66 cm painted in 1929, which sold $ 4.6M in Christie's on May 4, 2004, lot 36.
1933 Mademoiselle Poum Rachou
2021 SOLD for $ 7.8M by Sotheby's
Tamara de Lempicka was skilled in applying her signature Mannerist clear line style to psychological portraits of little girls including her daughter Kizette.
In 1933 Poum Rachou is standing with a watering can in a hand. With the other arm she tightly holds a big stuffed bear. The attitude is resolute but the toy with its bright eyes is clearly entrusted to protect her against the viewer. Her abundant curled blonde hair is pleasant.
This Portrait de Mademoiselle Poum Rachou, oil on canvas 92 x 47 cm, was acquired by Poum from the artist. It was sold for $ 7.8M from a lower estimate of $ 3.5M by Sotheby's on November 16, 2021, lot 42.
In 1933 Poum Rachou is standing with a watering can in a hand. With the other arm she tightly holds a big stuffed bear. The attitude is resolute but the toy with its bright eyes is clearly entrusted to protect her against the viewer. Her abundant curled blonde hair is pleasant.
This Portrait de Mademoiselle Poum Rachou, oil on canvas 92 x 47 cm, was acquired by Poum from the artist. It was sold for $ 7.8M from a lower estimate of $ 3.5M by Sotheby's on November 16, 2021, lot 42.
