ERTE Original Painting Signed Gouache Artwork Costume Dress Design Follies Berge

Description: frame masks by left shoulder tight knee see photos ERTE Original Painting Signed Gouache Artwork Costume Dress Design Follies Berge by ERTE Artist: Erte Signed?: Signed Originality: Original Medium: Gouache Size: Small (up to 12in.) Width (Inches): 8 1/2 Color: Multi-Color Height (Inches): 11 3/4 Date of Creation: 1950-1969 Original/Reproduction: Original Region of Origin: Europe Style: Art Deco Subject: Fashion & Costumes Features: Framed, Signed, AUTHENTIC Original ERTE GOUACHE PAINTING Listed By: Dealer or Reseller Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials (pronounced [ɛʁ.te], AIR TAY). He was a 20th-century artist and designer in an array of fields, including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, costume and set design for film, theatre, and opera, and interior decor. Contents1Early life2Career3Writings4See also5References6External linksEarly lifeTirtoff was born Roman Petrovich Tyrtov (Роман Петрович Тыртов) in Saint Petersburg, to a distinguished family with roots tracing back to 1548, to a Tatar khan named Tyrtov.[1] His father, Pyotr Ivanovich Tyrtov, served as an admiral in the Russian Fleet. Demoiselle à la balancelleCareerIn 1907, he lived one year in Paris. He said about this time "I did not discover Beardsley until when I had already been in Paris for a year". Demoiselle à la balancelle is one of Erté's first sculptures, if not the first. Made in 1907, at the age of 15 years, during a stay in Paris. This work is less precise than his other sculptures, but still Art Nouveau. Erté considered this so minor and uninteresting that it does not appear in his official biography, but the cartouche on the back indicates 'ERTE PARIS 1907', in a triangle. In 1910–12, Romain moved to Paris to pursue a career as a designer. In Paris he lived with Prince Nicolas Ouroussoff (December 17, 1879 – April 8, 1933) up until the prince's death in 1933.[2] The decision to move to Paris was made despite strong objections from his father, who wanted Romain to continue the family tradition and become a naval officer. Romain assumed his pseudonym to avoid disgracing the family. He worked for Paul Poiret from 1913 to 1914. In 1915, he secured his first substantial contract with Harper's Bazaar magazine, and thus launched an illustrious career that included designing costumes and stage sets. During this time, Erte designed costumes for the Mata Hari[3].Between 1915 and 1937, Erté designed over 200 covers for Harper's Bazaar, and his illustrations would also appear in such publications as Illustrated London News, Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, and Vogue.[4] Erté cover forHarper's Bazar February 1922.Erté is perhaps most famous for his elegant fashion designs which capture the art deco period in which he worked. One of his earliest successes was designing apparel for the French dancer Gaby Deslys who died in 1920. His delicate figures and sophisticated, glamorous designs are instantly recognisable, and his ideas and art still influence fashion into the 21st century. His costumes, programme designs, and sets were featured in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1923, many productions of the Folies Bergère, Bal Tabarin, Théâtre Fémina, Le Lido[5] and George White's Scandals.[6] On Broadway, the celebrated French chanteuse Irène Bordoni wore Erté's designs. The Restless Sex Adfeaturing Erté as costume designer. In 1925, Louis B. Mayer brought him to Hollywood to design sets and costumes for the silent film Paris. There were many script problems, so Erté was given other assignments to keep him busy. Hence, he designed for such films as Ben-Hur, The Mystic, Time, The Comedian, and Dance Madness. In 1920 he designed the set and costumes for the film The Restless Sex starring Marion Davies and financed by William Randolph Hearst. By far, his best-known image is Symphony in Black, depicting a somewhat stylized, tall, slender woman draped in black holding a thin black dog on a leash. The influential image has been reproduced and copied countless times.[7] Erté continued working throughout his life, designing revues, ballets, and operas. He had a major rejuvenation and much lauded interest in his career during the 1960s with the Art Deco revival. He branched out into the realm of limited edition prints, bronzes, and wearable art.[8] Two years before his death, Erté created seven limited edition bottle designs for Courvoisier to show the different stages of the cognac-making process, from distillation to maturation.[9] In 2008, the eighth and final of the remaining Erte-designed Courvoisier bottles, containing Grande Champagne cognac dating back to 1892, was released and sold for $10,000 apiece. Erté, byname of Romain de Tirtoff, (born November 23, 1892, St. Petersburg, Russia—died April 21, 1990, Paris, France), fashion illustrator of the 1920s and creator of visual spectacle for French music-hall revues. His designs included dresses and accessories for women; costumes and sets for opera, ballet, and dramatic productions; and posters and prints. (His byname was derived from the French pronunciation of his initials, R.T.) Erté was brought up in St. Petersburg. In 1912 he went to Paris, where he briefly collaborated with Parisian couturier Paul Poiret. He then became a costume designer and began selling his pen-and-ink and gouache fashion illustrations to American fashion houses. From 1916 to 1937 he was under contract to the American fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar. (A collection of Harper’s Bazaar illustrations was published in Designs by Erté [1976] with text by Stella Blum.) His highly stylized illustrations depicted models in mannered poses draped in luxurious jewels, feathers, and soft, flowing materials against a background of interiors in the Art Deco style. Afternoon dress of black and white satin designed by Erté for Harper's Bazaar, 1924Afternoon dress of black and white satin designed by Erté for Harper's Bazaar, 1924© Sevenarts LimitedThe same lavish style marked Erté’s theatrical designs. For 35 years he designed elaborately structured opening tableaus, finale scenes, and costumes for the French theatre. He worked for the Folies-Bergère in Paris from 1919 to 1930. During the 1920s he costumed the performers appearing in such American musical revues as the Ziegfeld Follies and George White’s Scandals. In the 1960s Erté produced lithographs, serigraphs, and sheet-metal sculptures. His autobiography, Things I Remember, was published in 1975. rte was born Romain de Tirtoff in St. Petersburg, Russia. The only son of an admiral in the Imperial Fleet, he was raised amidst Russia's social elite. As a young boy, he was fascinated by the Persian miniatures he found in his father's library. These exotic, brightly patterned designs continued to be important to him and influenced the development of his style. He moved to Paris at the age of eighteen and took the name Erte, from the French pronunciation of his initials, R and T. In 1915 he began his long relationship with Harper's Bazaar, during which time he created over 240 covers for the magazine. His fashion designs also appeared in many other publications, making him one of the most widely recognized artists of the 1920s. He also designed costumes and sets for the theater. In 1976 the French government awarded Erte the title of Officer of Arts and Letters, and in 1982 the Medaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris was bestowed upon him. His work is in many prominent museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The designs created by Erté during his long and illustrious life influenced not only the world of theatre, film and fashion, but an entire art movement as well. The genius of the artist is evidenced by an enormous body of work that is considered among the most influential and unique of the 20th century. Erté—Romain de Tirtoff—was born in Russia in 1892, and died at age 97 in 1990. His legendary career spanned nearly the entire length of his life. In 1912, Erté moved to Paris and his unique talent was immediately recognized by the city’s most established couturiers. In 1915, he began an association with Harper’s Bazaar by designing covers of each of their magazines for the next 22 years. The influence of his work as a result of the high visibility of this periodical influenced an entire art movement that was to become known as “Art Deco”. Throughout this period, the artist also created original costume and fashion designs for many of the era’s most renowned screen actresses, including Joan Crawford, Lillian Gish, Marion Davies, Anna Pavlova, Norma Shearer and others. His creations for the stage included extravagent designs for productions at such venues as New York’s Radio City Music Hall, the Casino de Paris and the Paris Opera, as well as for the Folies-Bergères and George White’s Scandals. a At the age of 75, Erté was encouraged to embark on a new career and began to recreate the remarkable designs of his youth in bronze and serigraphy. The Art Deco movement was hence reborn. A lifetime of international success and recognition has ensured this unique artist's place in the annals of art history, and his original designs grace the permanent collections of prestigious museums throughout the world including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Institution and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. Erté is perhaps best remembered for the gloriously extravagant costumes and stage sets that he designed for the Folies-Bergère in Paris and George White's Scandals in New York, which exploit to the full his taste for the exotic and romantic, and his appreciation of the sinuous and lyrical human figure. As well as the music-hall, Erté also designed for the opera and the traditional theatre, and spent a brief and not wholly satisfactory period in Hollywood in 1925, at the invitation of Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer. After a period of relative obscurity in the 1940s and 1950s, Erté's characteristic style found a new and enthusiastic market in the 1960s, and the artist responded to renewed demand by creating a series of colorful lithographic prints and sculpture. This luxuriously illustrated museum contains a rich and representative selection of images, drawn from throughout Erté's long and extraordinary productive career. To chronicle the life and times of a man such as Romain de Tirtoff within the confines of a page is nigh impossible. Where biographers most often select the subject’s greatest achievements, sifting the extraordinary from the everyday, with Romain the struggle is what to omit. In just one man, you might say, existed the lives of many. Romain de Tirtoff, or Erté as he would come to be known (the French pronunciation of his initials), was born in Russia on November 23, 1892. The child of aristocratic parents, he was supported in his love of the arts, and his creative talents were nurtured, particularly by his mother for whom he produced his first design at age 6. In his youth his passion waved between dance and design, but as he recalled in later years, “I came to the conclusion that I could live without dancing, but could not give up my passion for painting and design.” And how true was that statement, the artist continuing to paint right through to his final days in 1990, when he sadly succumbed to a short illness aged 97 years old. In 1912 the young and emboldened Romain moved to Paris, which would from then on become his home. After a brief collaboration with fashion designer Paul Poiret, Romain was hired by Harpers Bazaar to create their monthly cover, which he did from 1915 to 1937, producing over 200 designs in all. In addition he began producing stage sets and costume designs for the theater, opera and ballet, many of which are still utilized. Stage sirens flocked to Romain, knowing he could set them apart from the competition - Mata Hari (who would be shot as a German spy in 1917), Anna Pavlova, Sarah Bernhardt, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Lillian Gish and Marion Davies were just some of the stars who called upon his talents through the years. During the same period, Romain became known for his work with the music halls. These enormously popular shows gave him yet another identity, as he designed entire productions, from stage to costume, for Irving Berlin, George White, the Folies-Bergere and the Ziegfeld-Folies. What set Romain apart was that he understood form and precision; how to push boundaries without losing elegance or function, which was the key to his every design. How many designers today can claim the same skill? More often the service of a design is sacrificed for shock value, and mistakenly referred to as avant-garde. If one reviews the complete works of “Erté” you will find he is not merely the Father of Art Deco, but the uncredited parent of modern fashion. Mid-life Romain found his work being overlooked as the art scene and its followers pursued Abstraction and Pop. The American artists were having their moment in the sun and the delicacy of Romain’s work was out of favor. It was at this pivotal moment in 1965 that he met Eric and Salome Estorick, the founders of Seven Arts Ltd. The exceptional couple recognized the historical significance and unparalleled style of work, becoming the exclusive agent for Romain until his death. In 1967 Romain exhibited 170 works in New York and the entire collection was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As the artist himself noted, “It was, I believe, without precedent that a museum bought an entire exhibition of a living artist. Certainly it was a first time for the Met.” Later that same year the Estoricks went on to present another major exhibition of the artist’s work in London. It was a sensation, leading one art critic to remark, “If Michelangelo came back to earth, he wouldn’t have had more publicity.” The show featured what many believe to be Romain’s pièce de résistance, the complete Alphabet suite. Each letter represented in human form, every work a success in its own right, the entire series a masterpiece. If ever anyone had tried to confine Romain’s work to that of a designer, these two monumental exhibitions cemented him as a critical artist. From here developed yet another string to his bow – that of editions. His popularity surging following the exhibitions and renewed interest in Art Deco, Romain was advised by the Estoricks to produce lithographs and serigraphs in order to feed his insatiable audience. Beginning with the Numerals, Romain embarked upon this new method of production with the same careful oversight as he did his gouaches – nothing short of perfection was acceptable. Over his final decades Romain explored other areas of his creative practice, producing bronze sculptures, jewelry, vases; and employed new techniques in print making such as hot foil stamping to create dimensionality and luxury in the works. This burst of production allowed Romain’s art to reach a broader audience and level of notoriety, a blessing that he was able to enjoy in his advancing years. With so much to say about the artistry it is often easy to overlook the man. Romain de Tirtoff was not only an artist for the chronicles of history, but a man of such distinct quality and character, likely never to be repeated. As adept and precise as he was with his brush, he was similarly delicate and slight of form in body. And yet in spite of his diminutive stature Romain was strong and willful, he would not allow his creation to be manipulated to fit another’s agenda or to bend to contemporary tastes. Publicly he was the life and soul of the party when the time called, but privately he embraced his solitude, preferring only the company of his dear cats Caramelle and Talia, as he worked by lamplight, listening to classical music. This was his utopia. It is true that after passing many are recalled with great favor, but very few without critics. Romain de Tirtoff falls into the latter, a testament to his kindness, compassion and invention. Romain once said, “For me, creativity is life.” What he could not possibly have known, is just how many lives he would enrich with his own. Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials (pronounced [ɛʁ.te], AIR TAY). He was a 20th-century artist and designer in an array of fields, including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, costume and set design for film, theatre, and opera, and interior decor. Contents1Early life2Career3Writings4See also5References6External linksEarly lifeTirtoff was born Roman Petrovich Tyrtov (Роман Петрович Тыртов) in Saint Petersburg, to a distinguished family with roots tracing back to 1548, to a Tatar khan named Tyrtov.[1] His father, Pyotr Ivanovich Tyrtov, served as an admiral in the Russian Fleet. Demoiselle à la balancelleCareerIn 1907, he lived one year in Paris. He said about this time "I did not discover Beardsley until when I had already been in Paris for a year". Demoiselle à la balancelle is one of Erté's first sculptures, if not the first. Made in 1907, at the age of 15 years, during a stay in Paris. This work is less precise than his other sculptures, but still Art Nouveau. Erté considered this so minor and uninteresting that it does not appear in his official biography, but the cartouche on the back indicates 'ERTE PARIS 1907', in a triangle. In 1910–12, Romain moved to Paris to pursue a career as a designer. In Paris he lived with Prince Nicolas Ouroussoff (December 17, 1879 – April 8, 1933) up until the prince's death in 1933.[2] The decision to move to Paris was made despite strong objections from his father, who wanted Romain to continue the family tradition and become a naval officer. Romain assumed his pseudonym to avoid disgracing the family. He worked for Paul Poiret from 1913 to 1914. In 1915, he secured his first substantial contract with Harper's Bazaar magazine, and thus launched an illustrious career that included designing costumes and stage sets. During this time, Erte designed costumes for the Mata Hari[3].Between 1915 and 1937, Erté designed over 200 covers for Harper's Bazaar, and his illustrations would also appear in such publications as Illustrated London News, Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, and Vogue.[4] Erté cover forHarper's Bazar February 1922.Erté is perhaps most famous for his elegant fashion designs which capture the art deco period in which he worked. One of his earliest successes was designing apparel for the French dancer Gaby Deslys who died in 1920. His delicate figures and sophisticated, glamorous designs are instantly recognisable, and his ideas and art still influence fashion into the 21st century. His costumes, programme designs, and sets were featured in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1923, many productions of the Folies Bergère, Bal Tabarin, Théâtre Fémina, Le Lido[5] and George White's Scandals.[6] On Broadway, the celebrated French chanteuse Irène Bordoni wore Erté's designs. The Restless Sex Adfeaturing Erté as costume designer. In 1925, Louis B. Mayer brought him to Hollywood to design sets and costumes for the silent film Paris. There were many script problems, so Erté was given other assignments to keep him busy. Hence, he designed for such films as Ben-Hur, The Mystic, Time, The Comedian, and Dance Madness. In 1920 he designed the set and costumes for the film The Restless Sex starring Marion Davies and financed by William Randolph Hearst. By far, his best-known image is Symphony in Black, depicting a somewhat stylized, tall, slender woman draped in black holding a thin black dog on a leash. The influential image has been reproduced and copied countless times.[7] Erté continued working throughout his life, designing revues, ballets, and operas. He had a major rejuvenation and much lauded interest in his career during the 1960s with the Art Deco revival. He branched out into the realm of limited edition prints, bronzes, and wearable art.[8] Two years before his death, Erté created seven limited edition bottle designs for Courvoisier to show the different stages of the cognac-making process, from distillation to maturation.[9] In 2008, the eighth and final of the remaining Erte-designed Courvoisier bottles, containing Grande Champagne cognac dating back to 1892, was released and sold for $10,000 apiece. Erté, byname of Romain de Tirtoff, (born November 23, 1892, St. Petersburg, Russia—died April 21, 1990, Paris, France), fashion illustrator of the 1920s and creator of visual spectacle for French music-hall revues. His designs included dresses and accessories for women; costumes and sets for opera, ballet, and dramatic productions; and posters and prints. (His byname was derived from the French pronunciation of his initials, R.T.) Erté was brought up in St. Petersburg. In 1912 he went to Paris, where he briefly collaborated with Parisian couturier Paul Poiret. He then became a costume designer and began selling his pen-and-ink and gouache fashion illustrations to American fashion houses. From 1916 to 1937 he was under contract to the American fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar. (A collection of Harper’s Bazaar illustrations was published in Designs by Erté [1976] with text by Stella Blum.) His highly stylized illustrations depicted models in mannered poses draped in luxurious jewels, feathers, and soft, flowing materials against a background of interiors in the Art Deco style. Erté: dressErté: dressAfternoon dress of black and white satin designed by Erté for Harper's Bazaar, 1924.The same lavish style marked Erté’s theatrical designs. For 35 years he designed elaborately structured opening tableaus, finale scenes, and costumes for the French theatre. He worked for the Folies-Bergère in Paris from 1919 to 1930. During the 1920s he costumed the performers appearing in such American musical revues as the Ziegfeld Follies and George White’s Scandals. In the 1960s Erté produced lithographs, serigraphs, and sheet-metal sculptures. His autobiography, Things I Remember, was published in 1975. Romain de Tirtoff, known as Erté (1892-1990), was a Russian fashion illustrator and stage set designer, a master of the Art Deco style. Romain de Tirtoff was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on November 23, 1892, of an aristocratic, musical family loyal to the tsar. His father descended from a Tartar Khan named Tirt and ranked as an admiral in the Imperial Naval School. The noble de Tirtoff family had always followed naval careers since Peter the Great. His mother was also an aristocrat of Cossack descent; one of her brothers, Nicholas, was military governor of St. Petersburg. Rimsky-Korsakov, the Russian composer, was one of the friends of the family. Romain's idea of feminine beauty, throughout his long life, was the pale skin and dark eyes and hair of his mother. He was already designing clothes for her at the age of five, aided by the family's resident dressmaker. She took him on aristocratic summer tours abroad all over Europe while his father was on naval maneuvers. Before World War I the Russian capital city was elegant and replete with activity—theater, music, the arts, and fashion. Three imperial theaters dominated, where young Romain could enjoy opera (he saw Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko at the age of seven in the family's permanent box in the Maryinsky Theater) and the Ballets Russes of the famed Diaghilev. His mother took him on shopping expeditions on fashionable Nevsky Prospekt where he was enthralled by the couturier's craft. He remembered in later years that in his early teens he hated uniformed school and could hardly wait until school was out to pick up his painting and designing again. Becomes French Even in NameHe arrived in Paris at the age of 19 (February 1912); France was to be his home thereafter. The French influence on St. Petersburg was profound, and Paris was bewitched by all things Russian in those days. In Paris Romain saw ballet-dancer Nijinsky's notorious L'Après-Midi d'un Faune and Stravinsky's composition Sacre du Printemps in 1913; Picasso and Braque had begun Cubist art-forms; Orphism, Futurism, Dadaism, and Surrealism were about to be launched. (In 1914 Romain designed costumes for a scene called "La Musée Cubiste" in a Paris music hall revue, Plus Ça Change, at the age of 22). Meanwhile, in December 1912 he landed a job as draftsman in a mediocre fashion-house and was dismissed after a month for having no aptitude for design! In January 1913 Romain took his sketches to Paul Poiret, the paragon of Parisian couturiers, who had visited St. Petersburg some years before, and secured an 18-month contract. At least Poiret recognized his natural talent. Poiret was responsible for the name "Erté" (the French pronunciation of the initials of "Romain de Tirtoff"), first used professionally by Romain in the Gazette du Bon Ton in May 1913. Paul Poiret revolutionized women's clothes. He abandoned the corset and fitted bodice for the soutien-gorge (the "bra"); he adopted the simple, boyish, tubular "Empire" line, sometimes with a harem skirt (jupe culotte). Alternatively, the slit skirt, separated at the knee, was popular for the Argentine tango, a dance of the day. Poiret was the first couturier to market his own perfume, to draw on live models, and to use artists (such as Raoul Dufy) to design his fabric. Young Erté had a lot to learn from the more experienced Poiret, who was a married man in his forties. They parted with an acrimonious lawsuit, nonetheless. Poiret's business was closed at the start of World War I, and Erté lived in Monte Carlo from 1914 to 1923. Prince Nicholas Ourousoff, a distant cousin, came to live with Erté and was his business manager. Nicholas first suggested a relationship with Harper's Bazar in New York; Erté's 2,500 pen-and-ink drawings and gouache designs in the inner pages and 240 covers lasted from January 1915 until December 1936. William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) owned the magazine as part of his publishing empire; when he lost control of it in 1937, Erté's fate was linked with that of Hearst. The new editor made a change from fashion drawing to photography, then the rage. But with his work on Harper's Bazar (the spelling of Bazaar was changed in 1929), Erté gained an international reputation for over 20 years as the world's leading fashion illustrator. He afterwards said: "Every human being has a duty to make himself as attractive as possible. Not many of us are born beautiful; … Clothes are a kind of alchemy." A Long Career of Superb WorkTheater—the stage of the French and American music hall—was the scene of the next unfolding of Erté's talent. In the economic boom times of the 1920s, the Jazz Age, the French revue, and the Broadway show were at their summit. The ambition of Erté was to design for the stage. Through Poiret, Erté designed costumes for the Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari (who was shot by the Germans in World War I as a spy). One of the French music hall pioneers, Madame Rasimi, invited Erté to design costumes and the stage set for her revue called L'Orient Merveilleux (1917), where Erté had full range of his imagination for oriental pantomime. Maurice Chevalier and Mistinguett were starring; Erté designed a series of splendid gowns with long trains and the first of the huge, plumed head-dresses, so much a specialty of Mistinguett later. The Folies-Bergère was the first (1869) and most famed music hall in Paris, with its spectacle and almost-nude women. The workshops of Max Weldy at the Folies-Bergère were internationally known; they "exported" stage sets and costumes to theaters all over the world. Erté worked with Weldy at the Folies from 1919 to 1930, learning what he did not already know about theatrical dress-making and stage lighting and machinery. Erté's designs for the Folies-Bergère "are among his finest work," according to distinguished art historian Charles Spencer, reminiscent of Art Nouveau painting by Gustav Klimt and the Vienna Secessionist group he founded. Erté's style suited Broadway. He designed sets and costumes for the Ziegfeld Follies, George White Scandals (with music by George Gershwin), and Irving Berlin's Music Box Revue, among other shows. Erté's theatrical innovations were countless, including "living curtains" (showgirls with plumes and pearls, festooned by embroidered trains— e.g., one drawing of 1924 is in the Museum of Modern Art, New York); costumes collectifs (immense, single costumes shared by a group of performers, with a single theme—e.g., the collective design called "Silk" is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London); and tableaux vivants (e.g., L'Or, 1923, from the Ziegfeld Follies, which needed six and half miles of gold lamé). Erté commented: "We had no budgets in those days … neither White nor Ziegfeld would dream of asking the cost of anything." Through William Randolph Hearst, Erté had a brief career in Hollywood in the 1920s, although his style did not fit too well to the film capital. He worked on The Restless Sex (1919) for Hearst's Cosmopolitan Films, on a sequence called "Bal des Arts"— a ballroom setting, with a "Babylonian hanging-garden," a style "between Art Nouveau and emergent Art Deco of the 1920s." But when he was again called on by Hollywood in an MGM film called Paris in 1925, he broke his contract and returned to Paris. Erté "found the scenario dealing with Paris life simply impossible, ghastly in fact. Neither the director, nor the scenario-writer, nor the stars, knew the least bit about life in Paris. It was a huge joke." Dissatisfied with the Hollywood venture, apparently in 1925-1926 Erté had a "bracing change" of values toward industrial art. He began a collaboration with the French magazine Art et Industrie. He designed utility household objects, lamps, furniture, and domestic interiors. Erté published an article about changing women's fashions in the famous 14th edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica (1929), among other projects. During the late 1930s, World War II, and the 1940s, Erté was primarily involved in the theater in Paris, London, and elsewhere. His designs were acquired by opera, ballet, drama, and music hall companies, from the Saville Theater in London ("It's in the Bag!, 1937) to the surrealistic designs for Francis Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias in Paris (at the Opéra-Comique in 1947). On into the 1950s and 1960s he was still designing: La Plume de Ma Tante (Garrick Theater, London, 1955-1958 with Zizi Jéanmaire), productions at the Latin Quarter in New York (1964-1965), and numerous shows and spectacles throughout the world. But a real change in his career came in 1965 when he was 73: he met Eric and Salome Estorick, the founders of Seven Arts Ltd., of the Grosvenor Galleries, London and New York. They persuaded Erté to uncover thousands of perfectly preserved drawings from huge trunks in his cellar. They caused a mild sensation, a resurgence of Art Deco in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, a nostalgia craze. Also in the 1960s Erté pioneered in sheet metal sculpture with oil pigments; he called them Formes Pictorales. He also produced a series of lithographs and serigraphs for the Estoricks. With graphic art, he concluded, "I could reach the very large public that these Exhibitions had created." Erté was in his seventies and eighties a slight man with a shock of luxuriant white hair, impeccably groomed, to whom his work was everything. Erté confessed: "My work has been my mother, my wife, my friend, my mistress and my children …." Even though he had several distinct advantages in life—in his aristocratic background in St. Petersburg, in his mother, in his friends (Poiret, Hearst, Weldy, White, and countless others, including Prince Nicholas)-he had the capability of utter concentration, patience in controlling the designs, and supreme talent. Erté's work has a timeless quality. Art Deco design is not "fine art." His art is stylized, but within its stylistic limits, his artistic designs are superb. Aged 97, Erté fell ill in Mauritius; he was flown to Paris, his real home, where he died on April 21, 1990. Further Reading on ErtéThe major study of Erté's art by an art historian is Charles Spencer, Erté (London, 1970; rev. 1981). He wrote two books on his life: Things I Remember (1975) and My Life/My Art: An Autobiography (London, 1989). Studies of Erté's art include his book Erté Fashions (1972); Stella Blum, Designs by Erté: Fashion Drawings in Harper's Bazaar (1976); Salome Estorick, Erté Graphics: 5 complete studies (1978), Erté's Theatrical Costumes (1979), and New Erté Graphics (1984); and Marshall Lee (ed.), Erté at 95: The Complete New Graphics (extended edition, 1988) and Erté Sculpture (1986). Romain de Tirtoff (1892-1990) was a Russian-born artist, who worked in France under the pseudonym Erté, which was derived from the French pronunciation of his initials (pronounced [ɛʁ.te],AIR TAY). Erté grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia during the era of Mir Iskusstva, a time when creative geniuses such as Alexandre Benois, Léon Bakst and Sergei Diaghilev were fusing together the extravagances of rococo with art nouveau. Possessing a uniquely creative flair, Erté’s works included fashion illustrations, jewelry, costume design and graphic art as well as opera, film and theater set designs. His name became synonymous with the art deco movement which uses bold colors and geometric shapes. The movement was ignited in Europe, enjoyed a high point during the roaring 1920s, and had a huge influence on modern art. Born Roman Petrovich Tyrtov in 1892 in St. Petersburg, Russia, the artist moved to Paris in 1912 to fulfill his dream of becoming a fashion designer, despite objections from his father who preferred he continue the family tradition and become a naval officer. Tirtoff took on the name of Erté to avoid disgracing his family. Impressed by his talent, professional couturiers were keen to collaborate on projects, notably Paul Poiret, whereby Erté’s detailed gouache and ink fashion drawings were sold to fashion houses. Erte, Tanagra Blue Tanagra Blue Limited Edition Print, 1989His first substantial contract with Harper’s Bazaar magazine launched his illustrious career, and as it progressed, Erté went on to cross barriers within the arts, becoming a revolutionary who cultivated an interdisciplinary approach, expressing the idea of “theatricality” through a variety of mediums. His work as an illustrator led him to draw women’s dresses and hats which in turn led to further roles as a designer not only of stage costumes, but production sets. His grand set designs included opera houses in Chicago and Paris and the Folies Bergère, a Parisian cabaret house with whom he had a working relationship from 1919 to 1930. The poster below is just one example of his highly stylized designs which often feature flowing materials, enhanced with jewels and decorative embellishments sketched on the basis of an art deco landscape. The shapes blend together in an effortless way. Erté remained close to the art deco style all his life; he was its pioneer. Even when its popularity subsided between the wars, he still worked within the parameters of art deco, receiving a “second wave” of public acclaim when the style was revived in the 1960s. “Harper's Bazaar” Cover by Erte“Harper's Bazaar” Cover The glamorous environment of the music halls undoubtedly had a profound effect on the continuation of Erté’s work, perhaps accounting for his interest in “visual spectacle” and the heavily stylized body displaying magical costumes. It has been said that his “spectacular fashions transformed the ordinary into the outstanding, whose period costumes made the present vanish mystically into the past, and whose décors converted bare stages into sparkling wonderlands of fun and fancy”[1]. By the time he had become an established designer of magazine covers for Harper’s Bazaar (1916 – 1937), his notoriety was being galvanized and he produced a total of 240 magazine covers as well as illustrations for Vogue. The prominence of these publications catapulted Erté, and art deco, into the spotlight. His lavish designs, sense of liberty and movement coincided particularly well with the mood of the magazine which mirrored women’s growing freedom within fashion. Folies Bergère Folies Bergère (Cabaret Music Hall) - Paris, France Hélène Martini, The Iron Lady presents “I Am Madly in Love!”Vintage Theater Poster by Erté c.1974 Described by some as a development of art nouveau (1890 – 1910), art deco is a dynamic mix of cubism, visual drama and diverse modern materials. Its effects have been felt throughout interior design, jewelry and architecture. Examples of art deco buildings include the Chrysler building in New York, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Hoover building in London. They took the form of symmetrical shapes with well-defined edges, much like Erté’s sophisticated designs, in which the influence of distinct lines and geometric expression enhances a modern, fresh feel while maintaining a soft fluidity to the figure. “Wings of Victory” by Erte Vertical and horizontal lines are used to depict stylised bodies, draped with rich velvet gowns in lavish colors which are dotted with materials such as beads and crystal. What would have been new and emerging trends back then are now commonly seen in the fashion world, as are a wide range of materials including pearls and metal. Not only did Erté cast a huge sway over twentieth century artistry, he bridged theater with fashion. As his images drew attention away from the premise of the body as an entity in itself and towards the “spectacle,” he encapsulated the desire for fantasy through exuberant costume and glamour. Erté’s visionary skill was applied to almost every single artistic discipline in the twentieth century: magazine illustration, theater, opera and film. His designs were seized upon by famous couture houses such as Yves Saint Laurent, keen to embrace such opulence. Framed Erte Giclee Canvas Print Paintings Poster Reproduction Symphony in Black – Framed Erte Giclee Canvas Print Paintings Poster Reproduction Upon close examination, Erté’s designs embody both a measureless imagination and precise detail. All of his images seem to contain a different storyline based on a faraway world in addition to varying materials, shape design and use of props. He often uses intricate, flowing trains in his dress gowns as well as the embroidered headdress covered with sequins, beads or jewels. Even the textures are lifelike. Boldness of color was certainly not feared. Erté was influenced heavily by realms removed from our own, specifically that of animals and cultures of the past including Indian Egyptian and Russian as well as ancient Greek figures and pottery. He was drawn to the imagery of the peacock bird which can be traced in the outline of many of his pieces in terms of color and shape. Clearly the range of sources which triggered his artistic ideas is huge, even if looking at his costumes alone. All of this contributes to the fantastical, “performance” element of his work. "Queen of the Night" by Erté"Queen of the Night" The 1960s began a revival of art deco. As an innovative artist Erté turned his hand to bronze sculpture, replicating his designs in this new medium. His sense of characterization shines through yet again, as does the lifelike presence of the figurines in which none of his detail is lost. Erté believed that this new art form would offer an opportunity to deliver greater authenticity and a revised wave of artistic patterns. Further, he was aligning himself with what had become even more of a visual society than it had been in the 1920s. One could say that a large part of his success is attributable to a certain shape-shifting quality, the fact that he was constantly applying himself to technique in accordance with the developing pace of art but without losing his identity. Art deco was becoming a commercial success that now defined aesthetic culture, and Erté was very much at the forefront. bronze sculpture “Ibis” bronze sculpture “Ibis”In 1977 his “alphabet” series book was released, a creative depiction of each letter based on the human body. Although this was started many years earlier, it had been put on hold due to an overflow of work projects. In 1988, two years before his death in April 1990, Courvoisier commissioned Erté to create seven limited bottle designs for their Grande Champagne cognacs, with each of the bottles’ design representing a different facet of the cognac-making process. erte Today Erté’s artistic creations can be seen in museums around the world including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Not only do they maintain their unusual, glamorous appeal but also a timeless quality, no matter which medium has been used. The art deco style continues to influence modern day contemporary fashion and jewelry. This is, to a large extent, due to Erté’s imaginative powers and fine artistry. Contemporary artist and former fashion illustrator Barbara Tyler Ahlfield says of his work, “Erté’s sense of drama and sophisticated style are the fundamental elements that any serious fashion illustrator seeks to deliver through an illustration. The 1930s were a golden age of Erte's art deco imagery in design but he was active and producing for decades - truly the dream of most artists, illustrators and designers.” "Le Mystere Des Pierreries" BIG Art Deco Print Erte "Le Mystere Des Pierreries" BIG Art Deco Print ErtePearls and Emeralds Erte, Pearls and Emeralds Limited Edition,1990Erte-Glamour-1997 Poster Erte-Glamour-1997 Poster“Emerald Vase” by Erte Erte "Emerald Vase Newly Custom Framed Print 17" x 19"

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