Tamara Łempicka's biography as a ready-made film script
Tamara Łempicka was born in Warsaw as the daughter of a Russian-Jewish patron, Borys Gurwicz-Górski, and Malwina née Dekler, who came from a wealthy Jewish-Polish family. The artist grew up in the home of her mother's parents, who maintained contact with the cultural and social elite. She took her first artistic steps as a teenager. The style of Tamara Łempicka's work was significantly influenced by the opportunity to commune with the masterpieces of the Renaissance during holidays in Italy , where she went with her grandmother. It is from this period that the paintings that are the prototypes of the unique graphics come from (available in the DESA Modern offer). And so "Self-portrait in a green Bugatti" , painted in 1928, was on the famous cover of the magazine "Die Dame" from July 1929. In turn , "Portrait of Marjorie Ferry" (1932) became Łempicka's most expensive painting at the beginning of 2020 and fetched over £16 million at an auction at London's Christie's. Her unique depictions of emancipated women of the Années Folles era have gone down in art history, as exemplified by the portraits of Ira Perrot and Suzy Solidor , with whom Łempicka maintained friendly and loving relations.
Sophisticated portraits in saturated colors
In 1916, in Saint Petersburg, she married Tadeusz Lempicki and gave birth to a daughter, Marie-Christine (known as Kizette de Lempicka-Foxhall). Over time , her work was dominated by sophisticated portraits and nudes of a Cubist character and saturated, pure colors . Thus, it became part of the extremely popular art déco style.
The war brought Tamara Łempicka's move to Beverly Hills, California, and a few years later to New York. She continued to paint in a characteristic style, but also looked for new means of expression - in the 1950s she experimented with geometric abstraction, and in the early 1960s she created pictures in the post-impressionist spirit. She spent the last years of her life in Mexico, where she died on March 19, 1980.
Increased popularity of Tamara Łempicka's works
Her artistic activity became a painting synonym of the 1920s and 1930s, in which independent women played such an important role. Łempicka has become an emancipatory icon – this is perfectly illustrated by subsequent references to her work in the music videos of Madonna, the queen of pop music, who is a private collector of her works. The artist's paintings also feature such celebrities as Barbra Streisand and Jack Nicholson.
Tamara de Lempicka Estete LCC looks after the artist's legacy. which is currently managed by Marisa de Lempicka. The organization was established by the heirs to protect and popularize the painter's work. There are many effects - great exhibitions around the world, beautifully published albums and unique limited editions of graphics. DESA Modern's offer includes selected serigraphs and gouttelettes that perfectly reflect the compositional and technical sophistication of Łempicka.
Inauguration of the new season at DESA Modern
As part of the inauguration of the new season at DESA Modern and the introduction of new graphics by Tamara Łempicka, a unique meeting was held in the space of the DESA Modern gallery at Plac Konstytucji. Our guests were Marisa de Lempicka and Anne Paddy , who is a family friend, collector and expert in the art of Tamara Łempicka. Mrs. Victoria de Lempicka, the artist's granddaughter, took the place of honor among the invited guests . In a friendly atmosphere, with a glass of wine, our guests could hear about lesser-known elements of the biography and work of the outstanding painter, her warm relations with her loved ones or her passion for cooking and Polish cuisine. It was a great opportunity to get to know a slightly different connection to the character of Tamara Łempicka and her amazing work.
