THE ART DECO COLLECTION

THE ART DECO COLLECTION

A collection of bronze sculpture, cast in the lost wax method,
with patination, gold leaf accents and polished embellishments.

erté at his easel, 1921 portrait in front of his artwork, 1924

f
Jenkintown Press
P h i l a d e l p h i a , P e n n s y lva n i a
© 2005 chalk & vermilion fine arts and sevenarts

in paris, 1922 erté in egyptian costume of his own design, 1919

 The Art Deco Collection
“The most gratifying feeling I experienced
as I entered my nineties came from the
immediate success of my sculpture collection,
and the realization that I have touched the
lives of so many art collectors who might
never have known this phase of my work…”
—Ert é
ERTé
front cover: Rose Dancer, 25H x 7H x 7 inches
2 3
he name “Art Deco”
came from the Exposition Internationale
des Arts Decoratifs Industriels et Modernes,
held in Paris in 1925, which celebrated
living in the modern world. Art Deco
was popularly considered to be an elegant style of cool
sophistication in architecture and the arts, similar in
some regards to the earlier Art Nouveau style, but with a
more Modernist aesthetic. Innovations in design for home
furnishings, fashion, and architecture were enthusiastically
received by post-wwi Parisians, hungry for style, elegance
and modernization. In his autobiography, Things I Remember,
Erté says, “Art Deco has influenced the greater part of the
twentieth century. It is an evolution from Art Nouveau in
combination with the geometric forms of Cubism.”
In that year, Erté had already risen to the top of his field
as a fashion designer and illustrator, theatrical costume and
set designer, and was on his way to Hollywood to design for
film. His influence on the art, fashion and industrial worlds
was already well established—for this reason, he is often
referred to as the Father of Art Deco. Many years later,
in 1967 (still working at an age when most people would
consider retiring), Erté began to think about producing
limited edition graphics after a show of original works in
New York City, all of which (179 artworks) were bought
by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The resulting graphics
were an immediate success, and soon thereafter an idea
began to form that perhaps he should expand his vision
to the medium of sculpture. This was a natural avenue to
pursue, as Erté’s two-dimensional work on paper was always
designated for three-dimensional application. The idea of
figurative bronzes was thrilling to Erté, who at the time was
entering his nineties, bringing to life his favorite theater,
costume, and graphic designs. “I am filled with a sense
of excitement whenever I see and touch a bronze from my
sculpture collection,” he said “through which I have been
able to see my drawings, thoughts, ideas and dreams come
to life as never before.”
The bronze sculptures in The Art Deco Collection
epitomize the hallmark style elements of Art Deco—
streamlined, elegant, with a graphic quality that hints at
the Cubist influence on the Art Deco
movement. As with so many of his
graphic and sculpture artworks, many
are based on fashion or theatrical
designs. Starfish was originally a costume
design for the Folies-Bergère production of “Fonds de
la Mer,” in 1919. Cabaret, so evocative of the cabaret-style
shows of the day, was created originally as a costume
design for a production entitled “Walzertraum,”
in 1940. Soleil de Nuit was originally a fashion
illustration that appeared in Harper’s Bazaar in
1917. Chinchilla, also based on a fashion design
for Harper’s Bazaar in 1924, typifies the elegant
female form that Erté favored, with a stunning
costume that only a woman with such poise could
carry off. Others, based on gouache paintings, include
Roaring Twenties, whose outfit and “look” embody
the archetypal flapper icon so often associated with that
decade. Rose Dancer, from her perch on a rosebud, dances
as lightly as a rose petal on the wind. On the Avenue, is a
figure definitely dressed and ready to see and be seen. Café
Society, whose posture and gown personify the glittering
nightlife of the fashionable and beautiful and Michelle, who
seems to characterize the Art Deco look to a “t”—cool,
elegant, clean lines that make an impact without fussiness
or excess.
Although in his late eighties as he worked on the plans
and forms of the bronzes, Erté occasionally recalled how
the costumes for his theatrical productions looked in the
limelight. The model for Starfish, for example, prompted
many such memories. Erté lucidly described how he outfitted
other members of the troupe as entrancing lobsters, rays,
octopuses, and goldfish and how these dancers were almost
magical in maneuvering on that house’s notoriously narrow
stage with its eighteen steps. Additionally,
as artist Henry Moore once said, “Every
sculpture must have its own life,” and such
was the case for each of the Erté sculptures
based on previous illustrations. In fact, rarely did
Erté execute a sculpture exactly from the original
two-dimensional image, often changing colors of a
costume, or the angle of an arm to give the figure
stability, or enhancing elegance with jewels or
crystals, added for texture and sparkle.
Each sculpture, exquisite to behold,
is as lively in spirit, stylish in manner and
innovative in approach as was the artist who
conceived them. He used his abundant
artistic talents to choose, from his previous
works, illustrations whose images were
dynamic and appealing, whose costumes
conveyed his stylistic development from luxury
and grace to wit and flamboyance, and whose
figures could be precisely and accurately rendered
in bronze. Erté blazed a trail in the fashion and theatrical
worlds where no other designers had gone before. His artwork
continues to delight, and serves as a memorial to one of the
most imaginative and exciting artists that has ever lived.
4 Michelle, 20¾ x 14 x 8¾ inches Café Society, 22 x 13 x 10 inches 5
6 Starfish, 20 x 15 x 10 inches Soleil de Nuit, 19½ x 13 x 7½ inches 7
8 Chinchilla, 21½ x 9¼ x 8½ inches Cabaret, 22¼ x 15¼ x 7 inches 9
10 Roaring Twenties, 18 x 8 x 7¼ inches On the Avenue, 21½ x 10¾ x 7¾ inches 11
 Selected Chronology
1892 Born: Romain de Tirtoff, St. Petersburg, Russia.
1913 First important commission for leading Paris couturier Paul Poiret.
Creates costumes for dancer/spy Mata Hari.
1915 Begins 22 years with Harper’s Bazaar, with first cover illustration
published in January issue.
1919 Begins 11 years with Folies-Bergère as main set and costume designer.
1920 Designs for opera diva Ganna Walska.
1921 Designs for prima ballerina A. Pavlova.
1922 Costumes/sets for G. White’s Scandals.
1923 Costumes/sets for Ziegfeld Follies, New York City
1925 Costumes/sets in Hollywood for mgm, Cecil B. DeMille and
William R. Hearst.
1933 Designs for the Bal Tabarin, Paris.
1945 Costumes/sets for Rossini’s Barber of Seville, French tv, the Lido
and Bal Tabarin.
1964 Costumes/sets, World’s Fair, New York City
1966 Featured in Les Années 25, Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris.
1967 nyc exhibition of 170 gouaches, Grosvenor Gallery, purchased by
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
1968 First lithographs, The Numerals.
1970 Chevalier du Mérite, Artistique et Culturel awarded by France.
1974 First serigraphs introduced.
1976 “Officer of Arts and Letters,” France.
1978 Costumes/sets for Strauss‚ Der Rosenkavalier, Gyndebourne Opera.
1979 Erté — Or a Magician in the 20th Century, French tv. Smithsonian
Institution three-year traveling retrospectives.
1980 First sculptures introduced. Erté Retrospective.
1985 Awarded France’s “Legion of Honor.”
1989 Costume/set designs for d.c.’s Kennedy Center Stardust and 1990
Easter Show, Radio City Music Hall, New York City
1990 Introduces 50 new sculptures and 50 new serigraphs, all appearing
in Erté, The Last Works book published by Dutton.
Erté died on April ,  in Paris.
1993 Exhibit at the Grosvenor Gallery, London
1996 “The Erté of Excellence Award” created by the fashion industry and
awarded to honor the individual having had the greatest impact on
the nation’s fashion industry each year.
2001 Retrospective held at the Museo del Corso in Rome, Italy, entitled
“Fascino e Seduzione Deco” (Art Deco Charm and Seduction).
2003 Original gouache paintings of The Alphabet Suite exhibited at the
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France.
Original costume designs exhibited at the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, “Erté—Opera and Ballets Russe.”
2004 Erté, original gouache paintings and collages exhibited at the Robert
Sandelson Gallery, London, England.
Erté—Back to Russia, paintings, prints and sculpture exhibited at Gallery
Donde, Moscow, Russia.
Estée Lauder cosmetics introduces a line of powder compacts,
featuring the twelve Erté Zodiac images.

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