5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TAMARA DE LEMPICKA
Tamara de Lempicka lived a long, adventurous and uncommon life.
She was an over- the-top person: transgression and glamour were the central features of her life and her works.
She lived across two continents; her bisexuality became public; she got married twice, obtaining two different noble titles; she was a model, but above all she was an artist.
5 things to know about Tamara de Lempicka.
Tamara de Lempicka, Giovane fanciulla con i guanti (Portrait of a Young Girl in a Green Dress) , 1930.
1. WHEN WAS TAMARA DE LEMPICKA BORN
Tamara de Lempicka was born in Warsaw in 1898.
In the early 20th century she travelled to Italy with her grandmother, and on that occasion she discovered her passion for art.
In 1916 she knew Tadensz Lempicka, her first husband, whom she married in Saint Petersburg, some time before Russian Revolution.
2. TAMARA DE LEMPICKA AND ART
Tamara de Lempicka decided to move to Paris and dedicate herself to painting.
She began attending the “Academie de la Grande Chaumiere” and undertook art lessons from Maurice Denis and Andre Lhote.
In 1922 Tamara took part in the Salon d’Automne.
At that time, Paris was a point of reference for artist from all over the world, but moreover it was a city where anything could happen. There, Tamara began her affair with Ira Perrot, her mistress for many decades.
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Tamara De Lempicka, Ritratto della Signora Ira P. (1930).
3. TAMARA DE LEMPICKA IN THE USA
In 1928 Tamara divorced her husband, and in 1933 she got married to the Baron Kuffner.
They moved to New York, where she began arranging successful exhibitions throughout US (New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco). In 1940 Tamara and her husband moved to Beverly Hills and her effort to promote to the world an image of herself, in which art, wealth and splendour could mix, went on.
There Tamara became not only an artist, but also a “femme fatale”. She acted like a movie star, promoting her image of capable and refined artist at the same time.
4. TAMARA DE LEMPICKA AND THE RETURN IN EUROPE
After her second husband’s death in 1962, Tamara came back to Paris, where she began painting again, after she had retired from active life as a professional artist.
5. WHEN WAS TAMARA DE LEMPICKA DIE
An important retrospective exhibition was arranged at the Galerie du Luxembourg in 1972, and Tamara de Lempicka achieved a remarkable success once again.
In 1978 Tamara moved to Cuemavaca, Mexico, where she died on 18 March 1980.
She was cremated and her ashes were scattered over the volcano of Popocatepetl.
Tamara De Lempicka, Femme a la Colombe.
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