Tamara de Lempicka

Blanche Cheyrou, France (acquired directly from the artist in 1925)
Barry Friedman Ltd, New York (acquired in 1992)
Private Collection, Germany (acquired in 1994; sale: Villa Grisebach, Berlin, 31st May 2012, lot 30)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Paris, Pinacothèque de Paris, Tamara de Lempicka, La Reine de l'Art Déco, 2013, no. 12, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, Paris, 1920 - 1938, Florence, 1994, no. 4, illustrated p. 103
Alain Blondel, Lempicka, Catalogue raisonné 1921 - 1979, Lausanne, 1999, no. B.4, illustrated in colour p. 83
Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, La Regina del Moderno, Milan, 2011, no. 6, illustrated in colour p. 114

The canvas is not lined. Under UV examination a very tiny spot of what appears to be retouching associated with craquelure in the centre of the upper edge.There are also some very fine lines of stable craquelure to the upper edge in the flowers and to the yellow pigment on the right hand lemon. There are two stretch marks running through the centre of the work, and a further fine line of stable craquelure running from the centre right edge for 10cm in diagonal. The canvas is slightly undulating along the upper edge. Otherwise this work is in overall good condition.
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Bouquet d'hortensias et citron, painted circa 1922, reflects Tamara de Lempicka’s brief exploration of still lifes during the 1920s, away from her preferred subject matter of the female form. Her approach to still life, ‘in which the juxtaposition of unusual objects, unconnected in any way, suggests a kind of puzzle’ (Tamara de Lempicka (exhibition catalogue), Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2004, p. 18). The lack of dialogue between the hortensias and the lemons is a precursor to later works that feature multiple figures painted in isolation, with ‘an utter lack of interconnection: no understanding glances, no reciprocal actions or emotions’ (ibid., p. 39).

This work is a striking example of how de Lempicka’s characteristic bold colour and compositional choices were ‘designed for maximum effect’ (ibid., p. 39). Typically present in her work are carefully chosen and vivid colours; the present work sees shimmering yellows and whites shine out from a dark and rippled blue backdrop; there is purposeful contrast here, and the effect is mesmerising. Indeed, this is one of the final works in which we see de Lempicka working in a softer painterly technique, after which her style tended towards the sharper figures and more distinctive tonal contrast of Precisionism.