Artists I LOVE: Tamara de Lempicka

lempicka-s-studio

Tamara de Lempicka (b. Poland 1898 -1980) was an early favorite artist of mine for a time, and I still admire her smooth effortless sleek style. Her style is a sort of cubism, but with quite soft. brushwork. There is something so glamorous about the 1920s and the Art Deco period. Everyone seemed to be tall and slim and just glided through a life of parties, champagne and decadence…well, not if you were working class I suppose.

tadeusz-lempicki-c-1928-

 Lempicka, known as ‘The Countess with a paintbrush’ was bisexual and had many lovers both male and female. She married ladies man Tadeusz Lempicka, a bit of a handsome layabout by all accounts.

-lempicka-reclining-nude old style

mother-superior-1939 new sentimental style

With her second husband Baron Raoul Kuffner, she moved to America in 1939 and in 1960 she changed her style to abstract, not successful. In 1962 when her husband died, she moved to Mexico and retired.

 

delempicka my beautiful raphaella

Her bohemian lifestyle makes interesting reading: she was an independent woman with an eventful and exciting lifestyle. Amongst my favorite paintings by her is this one: – ‘My Beautiful Raphaela’. I did a collage of this painting with sequential photographs, building the image up: here’s the finished collage: –   

collage by Lynda Roberts BA Hons -after rapheala