塔瑪拉·德·藍碧嘉

Private Collection (1990)

Sale: Christie's, New York, November 10, 1999, lot 611

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Giles Néret, Tamara de Lempicka 1839-1980,Cologne, 1991, illustrated p. 49

Ellen Thormann, Tamara de Lempicka, Kunstkritik und Kunstlerinnen in Paris, Berlin, 1993, no. 24

Gioa Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, Parigi 1920-1938, Florence, 1994, no. 35, illustrated in color p. 239

Alain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Catalogue raisonné 1921-1979, Lausanne, 1999, no. B58, p. 128, illustrated in color p. 129

Patrick Bade, Tamara de Lempicka, Singapore, 2006, illustrated in color pp. 36-37

 

Good condition over all. Original canvas. There is a fine network of craquelure throughout, and the paint label is stable. Under ultraviolet light, there is a spot of retouching in her right knee, another in her right thigh and small restoration in her left shoulder. There are a few small spots of retouching in the fabric in the lower right. There are a few more retouches in her left hand and wrist, as well as in the shadowed part of the chair back beneath her right elbow. There are also one or two spots in the upper right background. Given the general state of canvases by this artist, this work is in particularly good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Lempicka's sleek representations of the female nude are renowned as emblems of the Jazz Age.  Painted in 1925 in Paris, the powerful female figure here resembles an Amazonian goddess reclining amidst a thicket of stylized reeds.  Her great limbs extend beyond the boundry of the picture, and the mechanized appearance and sturdy curvature of her body calls to mind the Purist figures in Léger's seminal Le Petit dejeuner (fig. 1).  Unlike the more sterile renderings of contemporaries in the 1920s, Lempicka's nudes channeled an unapologetic brand of female sexuality that few before her had ever dared to attempt.

Precision, clarity and solidity were the definitive characteristics of Lempicka's pictures from this era, and the present painting exemplifies her attention to these factors.  "I looked for a métier that did not exist any longer," she would recall.  "I aimed at technique, métier, simplicity, and good taste.  My goal: Do not copy.  Create a new style, colors light and bright, return to elegance in my models" (quoted in Passion by Design, pp. 52-53).    Lempicka explicitly rejected the "destruction" of Picasso's Cubism and looked instead to the old masters for inspiration, particularly the 16th century Italian Mannerists like Pontormo and Michelangelo.  When in 1925 the critic Arsène Alexandre noted the "perverse Ingrism" in Lempicka's submissions to the Salon d'Automne that year, the artist was flattered by the comparison to the great French neoclassical painter and by the critical recognition of her salacious thematic risks. 

In a recent retrospective of the artist's work, Gioia Mori has written the following about the novelty of Lempicka's nudes of this period, and her comments provide an insightful analysis of the present work:  "In 1925 the nudes presented at the various Salons all had a Rubsenesque exuberance of flesh, from those by Derain to those by Ottmann, to mention just the most illustrated in the various reviews.  The nudes of de Lempicka, though, have peculiarities that the critics did not fail to point out: the perspectival distortion and the renditions of the flesh that, as the reviewer of Le Populaire wrote, was masterly.  Gigantism and smooth, solid flesh as though cut from marble were the result of de Lempicka's study of sculpture.  Among the contemporary models, the female nudes of Maillol were the closest to her own sensibility, demonstrating clearly  the groin, the perfect curves of the thighs, and the rounded belly" (Gioia Mori, Tamara de Lempicka, The Queen of Modern (exhibition catalogue), Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, 2011, p. 160).

 

While critics at large tended to draw parallels between the overt references to female sexuality and the artist's own risqué lifestyle, Lempicka welcomed the comparisons in the hopes that they would help gain publicity for her art.  The artist cultivated her persona as a woman of the world, whose own personal sexual expression knew few limitations.  This careful crafting of illusion carried over into her compositions, which were similarly stylized and demonstrated an exacting attention to detail.  Presented as stream-lined as a modern race care, the figure here exemplifies the cool and powerful nonchalance which Lempicka herself would project in public.  

This work has been requested for the forthcoming exhibition, Tamara de Lempicka, to be held at the Pinacotèque de Paris from April 10 to September 10, 2013.