ERTE "La Mediterranée" RARE LIMITED EDITION Serigraph Roman Petrovich Tyrtov

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Seller: memorabilia111 ✉️ (808) 100%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US, Item: 176270372969 ERTE "La Mediterranée" RARE LIMITED EDITION Serigraph Roman Petrovich Tyrtov. Featured here is an original serigraph measuring 22x30 inches and  numbered 124/300 and originally titled "La Mediterranée". ( as a side note... The original gouache for this work is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was  produced  for a  Costume Design in "Les Mers," George White's Scandals, New York, 1923 .)  The serigraph is numbered lower right 124/300 and signed in pencil by Erte lower right. Two embossed stamps from the paper manufacturer are present at the lower-left  corner.    The serigraph is embossed with GG and ARCHES 88 (serigraph is on Arches 88 paper) in lower left  Overall size framed is 31 3/4 inches by 39 3/4 inches and item will be shipped or FedEX or UPS


  The Russian-born painter Romain de Tirtoff, who called himself Erté after the French pronunciation of his initials, was one of the foremost fashion and stage designers of the early twentieth century. From the sensational silver lamé costume, complete with pearl wings and ebony-plumed cap, that he wore to a ball in 1914, to his magical and elegant designs for the Broadway musical Stardust in 1988, Erté pursued his chosen career with unflagging zest and creativity for almost 80 years. On his death in 1990, he was hailed as the "prince of the music hall" and "a mirror of fashion for 75 years".                     Born in St. Petersburg and destined by his father for a military career, Erté confounded expectation by creating his first successful costume design at the age of five, and was  finally allowed to move to Paris in 1912, in fulfillment of his ambition to become a fashion illustrator. He soon gained a contract with the journal Harper's Bazaar, to which he continued to contribute fashion drawings for 22 years. 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   The death of Erte in April 1990 at the age of ninety-seven brought an end to a career of extraordinary brilliance and success - or rather two careers.  The first, which began when the young Russian aristocrat Romain de Tirtoff Arrived in Paris in 1912, extended through a stint in the haut couture house of Poiret and a twenty-two-year association with Harper's bazaar to the beginning of World War II.  During that period, Erte Produced 250 covers for Bazaar; innumerable drawings for the magazine's pages; fashion designs for some of the world's most glamorous women; costumer and set designs for Hollywood movies and stage productions ranging from scenes in George White's Scandals and Folies-Bergere to the Paris Opera; and a variety of product designs.   Following a period of comparative eclipse during the war and its aftermath, Erté's second career began when he met London art dealer Eric Estorick in 1967.  Impressed by the huge body of superb work in the artist's Paris studio, Estorick was determined to relaunch Erté's career.  This effort was crowned with spectacular success in New York and London exhibitions of gouache paintings and drawings.  As important as was the sale of pictures, the enthusiastic response of many start of theater and fashion who came to Erté's exhibitions gave the strongest indication that there was still a keen audience for his work.  Indeed, it became apparent that the demand for it by not only those able to afford originals but young people of limited means was too large to be satisfied by the existing works.  This led to the decision to create multiples - first graphics and, later, bronze sculptures.   As Estorick says in his text, to characterize the success of these programs as a revival is inadequate; it was a sensation.  During the twenty-five years of Erté's second career he achieved again the level of fame that he had in an earlier generation, but with an even wider public.  Those years saw also the publication of many books on Erté's work, including two large-format books on the graphics, "Erte at Ninety" and "Erte at Ninety-Five", and one on the sculpture "Erte Sculpture". Erte, the Russian-born Art Deco designer whose prolific career in theater, sculpture and the graphic arts spanned most of the 20th century, died here today after a short illness. He was 97 years old. Erte, whose name derived from the French pronunciation of the initials of his real name, Romain de Tirtoff, continued to work until just a few weeks ago. His recent designs included the set for the musical ''Stardust,'' which recently ended a run in Washington, and the set and costumes for ''Easter Parade'' at Radio City Music Hall. A slightly built man with a shock of white hair, he fell ill last month with kidney problems during a vacation on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. He was flown back to Paris two weeks ago and died this morning at the Cochin Hospital here. Erte gained recognition as a fashion designer in Paris before World War I, but his first major success was as a stage designer in the 1920's and 1930's. His name has long been identified with the great music halls of France, the United States and Britain. Art Deco Revival In the 1970's and 1980's, when he turned his hand to lithographs and serigraphs, he became widely known in the United States. As the Art Deco style came back into fashion, many of his works, including ''The Alphabet'' and ''The Numbers'' series, were sold as posters. Born into an aristocratic family in St. Petersburg on Nov. 23, 1892, Erte was attracted to the theater and at one point wavered between becoming a dancer or an artist. But eventually, he recalled years later, ''I came to the conclusion that I could live without dancing but could not give up my passion for painting and design.'' In 1912, he moved to Paris and collaborated briefly with the fashion designer Paul Poiret. Moving on to the theater, he designed costumes for an exotic young dancer named Mata Hari, who would be shot as a spy for the Germans in 1917. Performers from Sarah Bernhardt to Anna Pavlova would wear his costumes. Between 1915 and 1937 he designed hundreds of covers for the monthly fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar. His highly stylized designs of sinuous women draped in beads and furs helped define fashion for a generation. His work would also appear in Vogue, the Illustrated London News, Cosmopolitan and Ladies' Home Journal. From Stage Sets to Lamps Between the two World Wars, his elaborate stage and costume designs were in much demand for operas, theater and ballets in Paris, Monte Carlo, New York, Chicago and Glyndebourne, but perhaps most memorably for music hall productions, which was enormously popular at the time. He produced sets and costumes for sumptuous productions like Irving Berlin's ''Music Box,'' George White's ''Scandals,'' the Ziegfeld Follies, the Folies-Bergere and shows at the Casino de Paris and the London Palladium. Erte was known for his ability to turn his talent in many directions. He reportedly painted only once in oils, preferring the gouache or tempera medium. He accepted commissions to design jewelry, lamps, furniture and interior decor. A major turning point in his career came in 1965, when he met Eric and Salome Estorick, the founders of Seven Arts Ltd. of New York and London. Seven Arts remained the exclusive agent for Erte's work until his death. #1967 Exhibition When the Estoricks organized an exhibition of 170 of his works in New York in 1967, the Metropolitan Museum of Art bought the entire collection. ''It was, I believe, without precedent that a museum bought an entire exhibition of a living artist,'' Erte wrote many years later. ''Certainly it was a first time for the Met.'' After another highly acclaimed show in London, the Estoricks advised Erte to produce lithographs and serigraphs.''They pointed out that with graphics I could reach the very large public that these exhibitions had created,'' the artist wrote in the introduction to ''Erte at Ninety-Five,'' a book published to mark a recent birthday. Erte enjoyed doing series of related lithographs, among them ''The Precious Stones,'' ''Signs of the Zodiac'' and ''The Seven Deadly Sins.'' He used the theme of ''La Traviata'' for a set of Dunhill playing cards, with each suit represented by a different act. In his later years Erte turned to sculpture, using many of his earlier designs as models for another art form. Energy in His '90s ''He was working until just a few weeks ago,'' Mr. Estorick said in a telephone interview from New York. ''He was doing very well. He had made a lot of money over the past 25 years and was building a home in Majorca. He was full of energy until the end.'' In the book published for his 95th birthday, Erte wrote that he preferred variety in his life. ''I loathe wearing the same clothes two days running or eating the same dishes over and over again,'' he wrote. ''I've always loved traveling because it varies the decor of my life. Monotony engenders boredom and I have never been bored in my life.'' He liked working with his two cats, Caramelle and Talia, by his side, and classical music playing in the background. ''I'm in a different world,'' he wrote, ''a dream world that invites oblivion. People take drugs to achieve such freedom from their daily cares. I've never taken drugs. I've never needed them.'' Erte - this is one of those magical names, which hides much more than it seems, and at the same time is much less than it should be. A descendant of an old noble family, and have taken the enigmatic at first glance, a pseudonym, started a new life - and, instead of a man of flesh and blood to light was the creator of the perfect, unreal beauty in all its manifestations. Painter and sculptor, designer and illustrator, set designer, traveler, writer and even a chef - all of these incarnation merged in it alone. Erte lived a long, incredibly beautiful and very rich life, having experienced success, forgetfulness and a new take-off having to enjoy both the enthusiasm of the public, as well as recognition of captious criticism. He left Russia when he was not yet twenty, but it is Russian beauty Russian soul he put into his works ...   Roman Petrovich Tyrtov was born November 23, 1892 in St. Petersburg, in a family with a long tradition and a glorious history. Rhode Tyrtova was known in Russia since the middle of the XVI century - according to some sources, its founder was a Tatar khan Tyrtov, on the other - the messenger of the king Ivana Groznogo to the Tatar Khan Safa Giray, who was killed in battle. From this kind of came out a few commanders and men kind Tyrtova last two hundred years have served in the Russian Navy. Roman's father, Admiral Pyotr Ivanovich Tyrtov Fleet served as Chief of the Naval Engineering School and, of course, hoped that his only son will continue the glorious traditions of the family and as well as five generations of his ancestors, to make a career naval officer. However, Roman had other plans: in his own words, he began to paint in three years, and as a child understand what it wants to do all his life. His first novel fashion sketch created when he was only six - it was a drawing of a lady in evening dress. Mother Roman carried a sketch of her dressmaker, and cross-linked by the idea of the little boy's toilet caused a lot of admiring sighs.   Soon it became clear that painting and art - it is the only thing that really excites the young Roman. He enthusiastically engaged in classical dance under the guidance of the ballerina Marie Mariusovny Petipa, daughter of the famous ballet master of the Mariinsky Theater, developing natural grace and learning plastic body features. His favorite reading was art albums, and a permanent place to explore - the Hermitage, the halls of which he could wander for hours. He was particularly attracted to the ancient cultures of Egypt, Greece and Rome, as well as a bright exotic art of India, China and the Muslim East. For life he remembered and visit Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sadko" at the Mariinsky Theater, full of magical music, fabulous scenes of the underwater kingdom and fantastic costumes, and seen in the books my father's library with reproductions of Chinese and Indian miniatures, where it shook the bright colors and subtlety drawing details. But the highlight of his childhood was the Paris Exhibition of 1900, where a seven-year Roman traveled with his mother and sister. The exhibition was of course fantastic place for a little boy, but the city has made it a much more impressive. In those years, Paris has long been recognized as a world fashion capital, the birthplace of the new trends in art and a repository of tradition, here we lived the most beautiful people and boiling the brightest, the most fun, the best life. It was love at first sight: elegant, luxurious, completely crazy Paris conquered the boy, and he swore to himself that someday he will definitely settle in this amazing city. Choosing between dance and painting, Roman chose the latter. He later recalled: "I came to the conclusion that I could live without dancing, but not without a painting." Although his father was strongly against the artistic career only son, Roman seriously engaged in painting. His mother introduced him to famous artist Ile Repinu - he praised the style of Roman paintings and gave him some advice: in fact, is the first professional lesson that got Tyrtov. Later, he will, on the advice of Ilya Yefimovich engage privately with artist Dmitry Losev, a pupil of Repin.   Children's dreams of a fairy-tale Paris did not leave Roman. Successfully completing high school, he, in response to the Admiral's father offer pick any gift, I asked for a passport. We can not say to Peter Ivanovich was pleased with this choice of his son, but kept his word: in 1912, nineteen Roman Tyrtov ever left Russia and moved to Paris. Officially, he traveled to the French capital as a special correspondent of the famous St. Petersburg magazine "Ladies' World" - it was his duty to write notes about fashion updates, sketch models fashion houses and street sketches of Parisian crowd. In parallel, Roman took a job at a small fashion house "Caroline", but soon the mistress kicked him out, goodbye added: "Young people do in life than anything, but never attempt to become a costume designer. From this you will not succeed. "    Outraged at the best feelings Roman gathered all their drawings and sent them to the most famous fashion designer Paul Poiret at the time, has become famous for its exotic colors, original silhouettes and revolutionary models without a corset. He was the first one called "dictator of fashion" who transformed the creation of clothes in an art, who saw the dress as an art object. In his work traced the strong influence of scenic images created for the famous "Russian Seasons" Lvom Bakstom and Aleksandrom Benua, especially for productions of "Egyptian Nights" and "Scheherazade". Admired novel "Russian seasons", bright colors and exotic images of Paul Poiret was very close to him. In the House of Paul Poiret Roman Tyrtov made sketches of dresses, coats, hats and accessories. Then he took - instead of the well-known at home noble name - a pseudonym Erte, consisting of his initials, delivered in French.    Working at Poiret, in collaboration with the famous painter Hose Zamoroy, Erte honed the technique of drawing, bringing it to perfection. For a time he studied at the Académie Julian, but soon left her to concentrate fully on the job in the field of fashion. His style is full of elegance, originality and imagination, it reflected the essence is in its infancy then Art Deco. This style Erte will follow the rest of life; it was he who would bring him fame. The researchers argue that in the works of Erte mixed almost all the traditions of art, both ancient and modern, from the graphics laconic paintings of Greek vases and colorful Egyptian ornaments to pretentiousness decadence of modernity and sophistication. His drawings are full of the joy of life, derived primarily from the contemplation of beauty, and this beauty "by Erte" - thin silhouettes, luxurious fabrics, plastic fluid lines, rich tone and amazing combinations of colors - largely determined by the art of the first half of the twentieth century. He himself looked like his drawings: a short, very thin and graceful, always stylishly dressed, he, according to his contemporaries, gave the impression of a cross between the revived fashion picture and an illustration of the poetry collection.   In 1914, Erte left the fashion house Paul Poiret, trying to establish their own. It was prepared by a collection of models, whose style, as written by witnesses, although obviously echoes the style of Paul Poiret, was at the same time a graphic quality and exquisite. It helped in the creation of the first collection of dressmaker Poiret - on the invitations did not fail to specify the sake of advertising, and that the fashion designer, and cutter were related to the famed House of fashion. Poiret immediately sued - and won the case, suing a former employee of a considerable compensation. This, of course, very spoiled relations between Erte and Poiret. However, respect for his teacher, to whom he was much indebted, Erte kept for life.    Deprived of financial and moral opportunity to open his own studio, Erte started to work for the stage. His first work in the genre of stage design were the costumes for the Paris "Revue de Saint-Cyr," and then Erte created the costumes for the play "The Minaret" Paris theater "Renaissance", which shone in the history of the most famous exotic dancer Mata Hari. Cooperation with her Erte paved the way to fame - has since set design has become one of the most popular genres of Erte. At the same time Erte signed his first contract with a major fashion magazine. It is said that the offer made to him at the same time two of the most famous publications of the time - Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Erte cast lots - and signed a long-term contract with Harper's Bazaar.    Erte first cover painted to the January issue of 1915 - and since then, for more than twenty years of cooperation Erte created 250 unique covers of Harper's Bazaar, not counting the two and a half thousand drawings and sketches that have appeared in the pages of this magazine. The owner of Harper's Bazaar, the legendary media magnate Uilyam Herst exclaimed: "What would have been without our magazine covers Erte?"    Thanks to the collaboration with this publication, Erte fame crossed the ocean and become truly global. During the First World War, Erte, who moved from besieged Paris in Monte Carlo, continued as an artist, stylist and designer, actively printed in fashion magazines, mostly American - his drawings published Vogue, Cosmopoliran, Women's Home Journal, and others. He drew sketches of hats, handbags, perfume bottles, dresses, furniture and jewelry, creating drawings for fabrics and sketches of murals homes. His lifestyle was as refined as his drawings - on the interiors of his villa came to admire dozens of curious, attracted and refined interiors and generous host hospitality and delicious dinners in the Russian style, which suits the prince Nikolai Urusov - a long-term companion, a close friend and a permanent manager Erte, with whom they have lived under the same roof for almost two decades.    Described the visit Erte in 1918 Govard Grir, a Hollywood costume designer: "Villa Erte was on top of a hill, above the casino" Monte Carlo "and the surrounding gardens. At the station, I was waiting for a cab. Lackey dressed in a frock coat in green and white stripes, with black satin sleeves, opened the door of the villa. I was led into a large, bright room, where the only furniture was a large desk and a chair, placed in the center of a black and white checkered marble floor. The walls were hung with gray-white striped curtains, hanging very high. I entered Erte. He was wearing a wide pajamas trimmed with ermine. Huge Persian cat, arching his back, slid between the legs of the logged ... "Want to see my sketches?" - I asked Erte and going to the wall, pulled the cord parted gray-white curtains; opened hundreds of drawings within, hung strict rows. It seemed to me that never existed more prolific and more subtle artist than the little Russian who drew the days and nights of exotic women with elongated eyes, writhing under the weight of the fur, feathers of birds of paradise and pearls ... "   Violent fantasy Erte made him indispensable and among European aristocrats, the most fashionable entertainment which at that time were luxury masquerades. Erte not only created the costumes and scenery for the most famous of the organizers of such amusements - for example, for the Count de Beaumont or celebrated socialite Marquise Luisa Casati, but also set as a director and choreographer of the whole procession and pantomime "masks" in the costumes of his work, achieving the maximum effect . For example, for a charity masker July 3, 1924, held at the Paris Opera, Erte created for the Marquise Casati and her friends, among whom were Spanish Prints Luis, the famous fashion photographer, Baron Adolf De Meyer and Prince Urusov - a scenario solemn procession that We were to lead the twenty torchbearers, and close the Marquis in a suit of the Countess of Castiglione, the mistress of Napoleon III, and of black tulle with diamonds. The yield was very effect - it has not spoiled not just manifested in Casati fear of public ... Similar orders Erte loved - because they are fully allowed him to show the richness of their unrestrained imagination. "Imagination, - he said - the main thing in my work. Everything that I did in art - imagination. And I have always had one ideal, one model - the movement of the dance. "    Erte continued to work for the stage. In the 1920s he designed several dance numbers for the company of the great ballerina Anna Pavlova (eg, "Divertimento," Seasons "," Gavotte "), performances of the ballet troupe of the Monte Carlo and productions in the Chicago Opera. More than once he did set design for the music hall, "Folies Berger" and its main star - a famous exotic dancer "chocolate" Zhozefiny Beyker, known for his outfit from one bunch of bananas, to the Lido, Bal Ta Baren and Ba-Ta clan, London opera and the Paris Grand opera. All productions have enjoyed enormous success. When in 1923 Erte with great difficulty - he had to rouse several charities - ordered from Bolshevik Russia his parents, Admiral Tyrtov confessed: "You were right to go to Paris!"   In 1922, in Monte Carlo, where Erte stayed at Princess Tenisheva, he met with Sergeem Dyagilevym, who invited the young artist to work. Erte happily agreed - to work with Diaghilev was an honor for any artist. He drew two sketches - but the next day he was offered a much more lucrative contract to work in the United States. Confused Erte said about Diaghilev - and he said: "Never give up on the money. I myself never refuse. " So Erte Americans accepted the offer.    In the period between the two world wars Erte worked very hard in America. Basically, he became famous as the creator of luxurious costumes for the pop productions - no wonder journalists nicknamed him "the king of music hall": New York Erte has worked with almost all the famous Broadway revue of "Scandals" George White (curtain and costumes for the productions They are now in the New York Museum of art sovremenrogo) to the famous "girls Zigfelda" - the legendary troupe of Broadway impresario Florenza Zigfelda. His costumes enjoyed great success in the American "stars" - because in sketches Erte successfully combines elegant luxury high fashion in Paris and Parisian cabaret theatrical, fantastic lines and rich colors "Russian Seasons" and work clothing practicality. Based on sketches by Erte gladly wore the most famous actress of American cinema of the time - Norma Shearer, Ellis Terri, Marion Davis, Klodett Kolber, Polett Dyuval, Mey Myurrey, Lillian Gish, Polin Stark and many others.   At the invitation of Louis B. Mayer, MGM studio owner, in 1925-26 years Erte creates costumes for several films, including such famous films as "Ben-Hur" Fred Niblo, "La Boheme" by King Vidor, "Time, the Comedian," and "Madness of the dance" by Robert Z. Leonard, "Mystic" Tod Browning, and others.    His fashion sense is unique. In 1921 he introduced the first Erte gown with an asymmetrical neckline - right now, without this model, fashion is impossible to imagine. In 1929, he, creating sketches for the next formulation, chosen for men's suits velvet, silk and brocade - cloth, while unthinkable for men's fashion, although it is quite common in the eighteenth century. The costumes were so successful that since then even the most conservative fashion houses use these materials for sewing men's models.    Some time later, just in passing, Erte invented the style of "unisex" - is true, then it so no one has called. His model, which had the same line for both men and women, enjoyed great popularity among the young and trendy, and it tracksuits made a breakthrough in fashion, overcoming the gap between the very inconvenient, but to follow the latest fashion trends, "Clothes for sports" beginning of the century and truly athletic clothing, which was convenient to move. His model differs apparent simplicity of cut, which nevertheless looked expensive and elegant, showing the body's natural plasticity and understated elegance of fabrics emphasized the precious decoration, refined ornaments and luxurious accessories. French writer Jean-Lui Bori aptly: "Erte clothes volumes - but this is no longer the volume of the human body; It adorns the traffic - but this is no longer the gestures. He creates in space a fixed figure of the ballet. "    Back in the thirties in Paris - at the peak of glory, on the crest of financial success - Erte settled in Boulogne, expensive Paris suburb where the neighborhood lived, for example, the Prince and Princess Yusupov, the creators of fashion house "Irfe", or the Duke and Duchess of Windsor - the former king of England, Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson. In his apartment Erte created magnificent interiors in the same art deco style, where the colors lines elegance and restraint but stressed exotic trinkets, antique furniture, hides predators and the African vase with a few flowers. Gray, white and black scheme of the interior only occasionally diluted with red spots and mirrors painted butterflies itself Elsa Schiaparelli. A huge aquarium served as a wall separating the hall from the office, and created the sketch of Erte bar as the glasses was inscribed with autographs of celebrities: first there left imprints of their paws cat Micmac - a favorite of Erte.    During this period, he shows his exquisite imagination in everything - from drawing to cookery. In 1931, in a Paris Cafe Erte he presented "dessert Erte" - an amazing composition of exotic fruits and berries, which was crowned with blue strawberry - a close relative of aesthetes favorite era of decadence green pinks and blue roses. Alexander Vertinsky, who was lucky enough to try this "dish of the gods," he wrote in his memoirs: "I then two days gone, as if lost in the mirror universe, where the mist appear quaint town, balloons sway as adhered and non-redundant MIGA poured into the infinity of the imagination ... "   In April 1933, the prince died Urusov: His death was worthy of the poets of decadence - it shows a young gardener, how to cut roses, and cut the thorn. After a few day he died of blood poisoning ... For Erte it was a real tragedy with Urusov been linked for almost twenty years - the best years - his life. "My world seemed to be collapsing around me - Erte wrote in his memoirs - and I felt like the last representative of a vanished era."    After some time, the place next to the Erte ranked Dane Axel: first, he was hired to update the interior of the villa in Monte Carlo and then Erte officially offered him a place of his secretary. However, it soon emerged that Axel too likes to play at the races: once, shortly before the war, he lost a large sum, which on behalf of Erte received from the bank. He immediately dismissed the loser - and since then Erte shared only shelter with her cats.   During the Second World Erte continued to work for the stage, making out performances in French and American theaters. Interest in his drawings almost disappeared - in the difficult war years, the subtle beauty of the graphics Erte looked charming anachronism, and after the war, captured the interest of the public new trends. However Erte remained true to himself - as he claimed, in the true beauty always has admirers, and his creativity will always be fans.    In the sixties, he became interested in a new genre for itself - a sculpture. Initially Erte created abstract works made of metal. The first series was called "Picturesque form", it included the work of "Freedom", "The Inner Life", "Shadows and Light" and others - made of different metals, with the addition of wood, enamel and glass, painted with oil paints, these sculptures by Erte's own words, "is not purely abstract - they express emotions, thoughts, state." He then proceeded to the production of bronze statues in the old technique of "lost wax" - sculpture clung first wax pattern is then coated with clay, wax drips, and in its place was filled bronze. Erte embodied in the metal as their own costumes and early graphic work.    His exquisite skinny girl like famous beauties of the past, friends and girlfriends Erte are visible embodiment of grace and sensuality. "I feel a sense of excitement every time I see and touch the bronze from my collection of sculptures, because through it I can see how alive my drawings, my ideas, my thoughts, my dreams, which had never happened," - he admitted Erte. Achieving fidelity in the metal textures of fabrics, Erte a lot of experimenting with technology and materials. In these same techniques he created and a series of jewelry - for example, the famous necklace "Fox", made in the form of a fox head of gold and precious stones.    In the early sixties of Erte remember only a few experts in the history of art, even though he was still in demand as a set designer and designer: from 1950 to '58 Erte works for the famous Parisian cabaret La Nouvelle Eve, in 1960, it prepares production of "Phaedra" Racine and in 1970-72 he created sets and costumes for the show Rolana Peti at the Paris Casino. He designed houses and country villas for the rich and aristocrats, mostly those who remembered him fame three decades ago - for the American millionaire Isabella Estorich Erte designed villa on the island of Barbados, for Elena Martini, the famous mistress of the cabaret "Rasputin", Russian-born - house in Normandy.   And then something happened that could be considered a miracle - is already in advanced years Erte was able to achieve the revival of his career. In the late sixties - early seventies of the last century heads worldwide revival of interest in the art of 20-30s, and on this wave of popularity Erte - practically the only of the famous artists of the time, who was not only still alive, but also to keep the creative Activity - skyrocketed.    Beginning of a new take-off was an exhibition in New York's Grosvenor Gallery, which was organized by Erte for his new friend, a London art dealer Eric Estorik - a prominent expert on the art of the early twentieth century. he and his wife met with Sal Erte in 1967 in London, and their friendship lasted until the last days of the artist. The exhibition was a phenomenal success - it had all the celebrities in New York and Hollywood, and after closing, it became known that the Metropolitan Museum of Art bought time almost all of the exhibits, 170 papers. In the words of Erte, "It was an unprecedented case - buy a full exposition of the artist still alive."    Moreover - in the next year the Met put hundred of purchased works at his exhibition - the truth, because the museum rules were forbidden to arrange a personal exhibition of living artists, the exhibition named "Erte and Contemporaries": with him were shown works Lva Baksta, Natalia Goncharova and others . The exhibition was a huge response - Erte name again resounded in the world. During this period, Erte met with Andy Warhol - surprising, but until recently was considered outdated style Erte made a huge impression on Warhol: simplicity and imagination, laconic and bright palette graphics Erte had a marked influence on the style of Warhol's late.    Inspired by his new success, Erte decided to reissue his earlier graphic series. In 1968 he was released, "Numbers", then "Six gems", "Four Seasons," "Four Aces" and his most famous series - "Alphabet", created as early as the twenties. The figures have become so popular that a series of fragments become true emblems of modern times - all over the world to print them on towels, mugs, T-shirts and plates.    Made by the artist in the art seriography - every color of plot stencil stained with separately, and such sites were superimposed on one another, - 75 copies of the series have been sold to collectors for huge money. Erte himself claimed that since its operation required new technologies and increased precision of drawing, he did - or provoked - many discoveries in the field of printing and the lottery drawing. In the last years of his life Erte received annually from the sale of his sculptures, drawings and lithographs income of about one hundred million dollars - in addition to private collections, works Erte acquired the largest museums in the world - for example, London's Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York.   Interest in him during those years, it seemed, was even higher than before - books about Erte and albums of his work often took in bookstores whole regiments. Erte In 1975 published a book of memoirs, "Things that I remember," still enjoys considerable success. In it, he admitted: "I am disgusted wear the same dress even two days and eat the same food. I have always loved to travel, because it is decorated with life. Monotony engenders boredom, and I never missed in my life. " Indeed, the impression that Erte difficult to sit still: in his youth he tirelessly shuttled between France, Britain and the United States, in adulthood has traveled halfway around the world - South America, Southeast Asia, North Africa and all European corners were it not only constant entertainment, but also a source of inspiration.    Until recent years Erte remained consistently elegant, taut and elegantly dressed. He was always impeccably stitched classic costumes that he wore, in the words of one journalist, "with the inimitable grace with which the wild cat wears his fur," were supplemented with bright original accessories made by his own sketches. Even in later years he liked decorated with bright prints shirts, colorful scarves, original jersey and, of course, the shoes from the best masters.   All the time he spent traveling around the world, and everywhere he had friends and admirers. A lot of the time he spent in Mallorca, where he had a summer residence daily to keep in shape, he swam in the sea a few kilometers away, always take long walks and worked until the last days of his life. He painted with oil, gouache and pen, made sketches of furniture, posters, lamps, jewelry, playing cards and drawings for clothing. In 1982, he made a gift to the anniversary - has produced a magnificent album of his work "Erte ninety years," five years later they released another album - "Erte ninety-five", and then "Sculpture Erte". The books were a lot of creativity, outlook on life, on the countries where he had visited, the people that had to work - and very little about the Erte. He did not like anyone to interfere with his private life, and he preferred not to talk about it. He was ninety-seven years old when he designed his last performance - Broadway musical "Stardust."  In April 1990, Erte was with friends on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. There he suddenly fell ill - on a private jet, he was taken in a Paris hospital, but despite the best efforts of doctors, three weeks - 21 April - Erte died. Invitations to your funeral in advance Erte designed himself - they were sent to the list drawn up by them, and all the little ceremonies were also thought to them in advance. Even the luxurious coffin was carried out of his own design: mahogany, trimmed with floral wreaths in the art deco style. His body rests in the cemetery of Boulogne, next to his parents. Erte is one of those magical names, which hides much more than it seems, and at the same time much less than it should. A descendant of an old noble family, taking a pseudonym mysterious at first glance, began life anew - and instead of a man of flesh and blood, a creator of perfect, unreal beauty in all its manifestations appeared. An artist and sculptor, fashion designer and illustrator, stage designer, traveler, writer and even a culinary specialist - all these hypostases merged in it alone. Erte lived a long, incredibly beautiful and very eventful life, having experienced success, oblivion and a new take-off, managing to enjoy both the enthusiasm of the public and the recognition of meticulous criticism. He left Russia when he was not yet twenty, but it was the Russian beauty, the Russian soul that he invested in his works ...   Роман Петрович Тыртов родился 23 ноября 1892 года в Санкт-Петербурге, в семье с давними традициями и славной историей. Род Тыртовых был известен в России с середины XVI века – по некоторым данным, его основателем был татарский хан Тырта, по другим – посланник царя Ивана Грозного к татарскому хану Сафа-Гирею, погибший в сражении. Из этого рода вышли несколько воевод, а последние две сотни лет мужчины рода Тыртовых служили на российском флоте. Отец Романа, адмирал флота Петр Иванович Тыртов служил начальником Морского инженерного училища и, естественно, надеялся, что его единственный сын станет продолжателем славных традиций рода и также, как пять поколений его предков, сделает карьеру военно-морского офицера. Однако у Романа были совсем другие планы: по его собственным словам, он начал рисовать в три года, и еще в детстве понял, что именно этим хочет заниматься всю жизнь. Свой первый модный эскиз Роман создал, когда ему было всего шесть – это был рисунок дамы в вечернем платье. Мать Романа отнесла эскиз своей портнихе, и сшитый по идее маленького мальчика туалет вызвал немало восхищенных вздохов.  Уже скоро выяснилось, что рисование и искусство – это единственное, что по-настоящему волнует юного Романа. Он с увлечением занимался классическими танцами под руководством балерины Марии Мариусовны Петипа, дочери знаменитейшего балетмейстера Мариинского театра, развивая природную грацию и узнавая пластические возможности тела. Его любимым чтением были альбомы по искусству, а постоянным местом для прогулок – Эрмитаж, по залам которого он мог бродить часами. Особенно его привлекали древние культуры Египта, Греции и Рима, а так же яркая экзотика произведений искусства Индии, Китая и мусульманского Востока. На всю жизнь он запомнил и посещение оперы Римского-Корсакова «Садко» в Мариинском театре, полной волшебной музыки, сказочных сцен подводного царства и фантастических костюмов, и увиденные в библиотеке отца книги с репродукциями китайских и индийских миниатюр, в которых его потрясли яркие краски и тонкость прорисовки деталей.  Но самым ярким событием его детства была парижская выставка 1900 года, на которой семилетний Роман побывал с матерью и сестрой. Выставка, конечно, была местом фантастическим для маленького мальчика, но сам город произвел на него гораздо более сильное впечатление. В те годы Париж уже давно был признанной мировой столицей моды, местом возникновения новых течений в искусстве и хранилищем традиций, здесь жили самые красивые люди и кипела самая яркая, самая веселая, самая лучшая жизнь. Это была любовь с первого взгляда: элегантный, роскошный, сумасшедший Париж совершенно покорил мальчика, и он поклялся себе, что когда-нибудь он обязательно поселится в этом удивительном городе.  Выбирая между танцами и живописью, Роман выбрал последнее. Позже он вспоминал: «Я пришел к выводу, что мог бы прожить без танцев, но не без живописи». Хотя отец был категорически против артистической карьеры единственного сына, Роман всерьез занялся рисованием. Мать представила его знаменитому художнику Илье Репину – тот с одобрением отозвался о стиле рисунков Романа и дал ему несколько советов: по сути, это первый профессиональный урок, который получил Тыртов. Позднее он будет по совету Ильи Ефимовича заниматься частным порядком с художником Дмитрием Лосевским, учеником Репина.   Children's dreams of a fabulous Paris did not leave Roman. Successfully graduating from high school, he, in response to a proposal from his admiral father to choose any gift for himself, asked for a passport. It cannot be said that Pyotr Ivanovich was pleased with this choice of his son, but he kept his word: in 1912, the nineteen-year-old Roman Tyrtov left Russia forever and moved to Paris. Officially, he went to the French capital as a special correspondent for the well-known Petersburg magazine Ladies' World - he was responsible for writing notes about fashion trends, sketching models of fashion houses and street sketches of the Parisian crowd. At the same time, Roman got a job in the small fashion house “Caroline”, but soon the hostess drove him out of there, adding goodbye: “Young man, do whatever you like in life, but never try to become a costume designer again. Nothing will come of this. ”    Offended in his best feelings, Roman gathered all his drawings and sent them to the most famous couturier of that time, Paul Poiret, famous for his exotic colors, original silhouettes and revolutionary models without a corset. He was the first to be called the “fashion dictator”, who turned the creation of clothes into real art, who considered the dress as an art object. In his work, there was a strong influence of stage images created for the famous "Russian Seasons" by Lev Bakst and Alexandre Benois, especially for the performances "Egyptian Nights" and "Scheherazade". Roman admired the “Russian Seasons”, bright colors and exotic images of Paul Poiret were very close to him. In the House of Paul Poiret, Roman Tyrtov made sketches of dresses, coats, hats and accessories.    Working on the Poiret in collaboration with the famous draftsman Jose Zamora, Erte perfected the technique of drawing, bringing it to perfection. He studied at the Julien Academy for some time, but soon left her to fully concentrate on work in the field of fashion. His style, full of sophistication, originality and imagination, reflected the essence of the art deco that was only emerging at that time. Erte will stick to this style for the rest of his life; it is he who will bring him glory. Researchers say that Erte’s works mixed almost all the traditions of painting, both ancient and modern: from the graphic laconicism of Greek vases and colorful Egyptian ornaments to the elaborate decadence and sophistication of modernity. His drawings are full of the joy of life, obtained primarily from the contemplation of beauty, and this beauty "according to Erte" - subtle silhouettes, luxurious fabrics, flowing plastic lines, rich colors and amazing combinations of colors - in many ways determined the art of the first half of the twentieth century. He himself was similar to his drawings: not very tall, very thin and graceful, always smartly dressed, and, according to his contemporaries, he made an impression between the animated fashion picture and the illustration for the poetry collection.   In 1914, Erte left Paul Poiret Fashion House, trying to establish his own. A collection of models was prepared, whose style, as eyewitnesses wrote, although it obviously resonated with the style of Paul Poiret, was at the same time more graphic and refined. The first dressmaker Poiret helped in creating the collection - on invitation cards they did not fail to indicate for the sake of advertising that both the fashion designer and the cutter were related to the famous Fashion House. Poiret immediately sued - and won the case, having seized considerable compensation from the former employee. This, of course, ruined the relationship between Erte and Poiret. However, the respect for his teacher, to which he owed much, Erte retained for life.    Having lost the financial and moral opportunity to open his own studio, Erte began working for the stage. His first work in the genre of scenography was costume designs for the Paris Revue de Sans Cyr, and then Erte created costumes for the Minaret performance of the Paris Renaissance theater, where Mata Hari, the most famous exotic dancer in history, shone. Collaboration with her paved the way for Erte's fame - since then, set design has become one of Erte's favorite genres. At the same time, Erte signs his first major contract with a fashion magazine. It is said that the proposal was made to him simultaneously by the two most famous publications of that time - Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Erte drew lots - and signed a long-term contract with Harper's Bazaar.    Erte drew the first cover for the January issue of 1915 - and since then, over more than twenty years of collaboration, Erte has created 250 unique covers for Harper's Bazaar, not counting the two and a half thousand drawings and sketches that appeared on the pages of this magazine. The owner of Harper's Bazaar, the legendary media magnate William Hurst, exclaimed: “What would be our magazine without Erte's covers?”    Thanks to cooperation with this publication, the glory of Erte stepped over the ocean and became truly worldwide. During World War I, Erte, who moved from besieged Paris to Monte Carlo, continued to actively print in fashion publications, mainly American, as an artist, stylist, and designer - his drawings were printed by Vogue, Cosmopoliran, Women's Home Journal and others. He drew sketches of hats, handbags, perfume bottles, dresses, furniture and jewelry, created drawings for fabrics and sketches of murals in residential buildings. His lifestyle was as exquisite as his drawings - dozens of curious, attracted by both exquisite interiors, and generous hospitality of the owner, and exquisite Russian-style dinners hosted by Prince Nikolai Urusov, a long-term companion, came to enjoy the interiors of his villa and permanent manager of Erte,    This is how a visit to Erte in 1918 was described by Howard Greer, a Hollywood costume designer: “Villa Erte was on a hilltop above the Monte Carlo casino and adjoining gardens. At the station I was waiting for the fiacre. The footman, dressed in a green and white striped coat, with black satin sleeves, opened the doors of the villa to me. I was led into a huge, bright room, where the only furniture was a large office and a chair, set in the very center on a black and white chess marble floor. The walls were curtained with gray and white striped curtains hanging very high. Erte came in. He was wearing broad ermine pajamas. A huge Persian cat, arching its back, glided between the legs of the person who entered ... "Do you want to see my sketches?" Erte asked and, going to the wall, pulled the cord, opening the gray-white curtains; hundreds of drawings opened within hung in strict rows. It seemed to me that there was never a more prolific and more sophisticated artist than this little Russian, who painted days and nights of exotic women with elongated eyes, wriggling under the weight of fur, feathers of birds of paradise and pearls ... "   Erte's turbulent fantasy made him indispensable among European aristocrats, whose most fashionable entertainment at that time were luxurious masquerades. Erte not only created costumes and sets for the most famous organizers of such entertainments - for example, for the Count de Beaumont or the famous socialite Marquise Louise Casati, but also staged as a director and choreographer whole processions and pantomimes of “masks” in costumes of his work, achieving maximum effect . For example, for the charity masquerade ball held on July 3, 1924 at the Paris Opera, Erte created for the Marquise Casati and her friends, among whom were the Spanish prince Luis, the famous fashion photographer Baron Adolph de Meyer and Prince Urusov, a script for the solemn procession, which should have been headed by two dozen torchbearers, and closed the marquise in the costume of Countess Castiglione, mistress of Napoleon III, from black tulle with diamonds. The way out was extremely effective - it wasn’t even spoiled by Kazati’s fear of the public that didn’t appear on time ... Erte loved these orders very much - because they fully allowed him to show the richness of his unbridled imagination. “Imagination,” he said, “is the main thing in my work. All that I did in art is a game of imagination. And I always had one ideal, one model - dance movement. ”    Erte continued to work for the stage. In the 1920s, he designed several dance numbers for the troupe of the great ballerina Anna Pavlova (for example, Divertissement, Seasons, Gavotte), performances of the Monte Carlo ballet troupe and performances at the Chicago Opera. He has repeatedly done scenography for the Fole Berger music hall and its main star, the famous exotic chocolate dancer Josephine Baker, famous for her outfit of one bunch of bananas, for Lido cabaret, Bal-Ta-baren and Ba-ta clan, the London Opera House and the Paris Grand Opera. All productions were a huge success. When in 1923 Erte with considerable difficulty — he had to raise several charitable organizations to his feet — discharged his parents from Bolshevik Russia, Admiral Tyrtov admitted: “You were right when you went to Paris!”   In 1922 in Monte Carlo, where Erte was visiting Princess Tenisheva, he met Sergey Diaghilev, who invited the young artist to collaborate. Erte happily agreed - working with Diaghilev was an honor for any artist. He drew two sketches - but the next day he was offered a much more profitable contract for work in the United States. Confused, Erte talked about the offer to Diaghilev - and he said: “Never refuse money. I myself never refuse. ” So Erte accepted the offer of the Americans.    Between the two world wars, Erte worked a lot in America. Basically, he became famous as the creator of luxurious costumes for pop productions - it was not without reason that journalists called him the “king of music halls”: in New York, Erte worked with almost all the famous Broadway revisions, from George White's Scandals (curtain and costume designs for those productions Now they are in the New York Museum of Modern Art) until the famous "Siegfeld Girls" - the legendary troupe of Broadway impresario Florenz Siegfeld. His costumes enjoyed great success among American "stars" - after all, Erte's sketches successfully combined the exquisite luxury of high Parisian fashion and theatricality of Parisian cabarets, the fantastic lines and rich colors of the Russian Seasons and the practicality of work clothes.   At the invitation of Louis B. Mayer, the owner of MGM Studios, Erte created costumes for several paintings in 1925-26, including famous films such as Ben-Gur by Fred Niblo, King Bohemian Widor, Time, Comedy and The Madness of Dance by Robert Z. Leonard, The Mystic by Tod Browning and some others.    His fashion sense was unique. Back in 1921, Erte was the first to introduce a dress with an asymmetric neckline - now without this model fashion cannot be imagined. In 1929, creating sketches for the next production, he chose velvet, silk and brocade for men's suits - fabrics that were unthinkable for men's fashion at the time, although quite common in the eighteenth century. The costumes were so successful that since then even the most conservative fashion houses have been using these materials for tailoring male models.    A little later, in the same way, Erte invented the “unisex” style - however, no one called him that way then. His models, which had the same lines for men and women, were very popular among fashionable youth, and his tracksuits made a breakthrough in fashion, bridging the gap between completely uncomfortable, but following the latest fashion trends, “clothes for sports” of the beginning of the century and truly sports clothes in which it was convenient to move. His models were distinguished by the apparent simplicity of the cut, which nevertheless looked expensive and exquisite, demonstrating the natural plasticity of the body, and the restrained elegance of fabrics was emphasized by precious finishes, sophisticated ornaments and luxurious accessories. The French writer Jean-Louis Borye accurately noted: “Erte dresses volumes - but these are no longer volumes of the human body; adorns movements - but these are no longer gestures. He creates in space the figures of a motionless ballet. ”    Returning to Paris in the thirties, at the height of his fame, on the crest of financial success, Erte settled in Boulogne, an expensive Parisian suburb, where, for example, Prince and Princess Yusupov, the creators of the Fashion House “Irfe”, or the Duke and Duchess of Windsor - Former King of England Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson. In his apartment, Erte created magnificent interiors all in the same art deco style, where exotic trinkets, antique furniture, skins of African predators and vases with rare colors only emphasized the sophistication of lines and restraint of color. Gray-white-black gamma of interiors was only occasionally diluted with red spots, and Elsa Schiaparelli herself painted the mirrors with butterflies. The huge aquarium served as a wall separating the hall from the study, and the bar created according to the sketch of Erte himself in the form of a glass was painted with autographs of celebrities:    During this period, he shows his exquisite imagination in everything from drawings to cooking. In 1931, in one of the Parisian cafes, Erte presented the “Erte dessert” - an amazing composition of exotic fruits and berries, topped with blue strawberries - a close relative of green carnations and blue roses, beloved by aesthetes of the decadent era. Alexander Vertinsky, who was lucky enough to try this “dish of the gods,” wrote in his memoirs: “Then I walked for two days, as if lost in a mirror universe, where bizarre cities appear through the fog, balloons swing like tied, and the irredundancy of the moment is spread in infinity of imagination ... "   In April 1933, Prince Urusov died: His death was worthy of the poets of decadence - he shows the young gardener how to cut roses, and cut himself with a thorn. A few days later he died of blood poisoning ... For Erte, this was a real tragedy: almost twenty years — the best years — of his life were connected with Urusov. “My world seemed to crumble around me,” Erte wrote in his memoirs, “and I felt like the last representative of an extinct era.”    After some time, the Danes Axel took the place next to Erte: he was first hired to renovate the interior of the villa in Monte Carlo, and then Erte officially offered him the place of his secretary. However, it soon became clear that Axel was too fond of playing on the run: once, shortly before the war, he lost a large sum, which, on behalf of Erte, was received from the bank. He immediately dismissed the embezzler - and since then Erte shared the shelter only with his cats.   During World War II, Erte continued to work for the stage, staging performances in French and American theaters. Interest in his drawings almost disappeared - during the difficult war years, the sophisticated beauty of Erte's graphics looked like a charming anachronism, and after the war, new trends captured the interest of the public. However, Erte remained true to himself - as he claimed, true beauty always has connoisseurs, and his work will always have fans.    In the sixties, he became interested in a new genre for himself - sculpture. At first, Erte created abstract works of metal. The first series was called "Picturesque forms", it included the work "Freedom", "Inner Life", "Shadows and Lights" and others - made of various metals, with the addition of wood, enamel and glass, painted with oil paints, these sculptures, according to Erte himself said, "they were not purely abstract - they expressed emotions, thought, condition." Then he went on to make bronze figurines using the ancient technique of “lost wax” - the sculpture was first molded of wax, then the model was coated with clay, the wax was melted, and bronze was poured in its place. Erte embodied his sketches of costumes and early graphic works in metal.    His exquisite thin girls, similar to the famous beauties of the past, Erte's acquaintances and friends, are the visible embodiment of grace and sensuality. “I have a feeling of excitement every time I see and touch the bronze from my collection of sculptures, because it is through it that I can see how my drawings, my ideas, my thoughts, my dreams come to life, which never happened before,” admitted Erte. Achieving accuracy in reproducing the texture of metals in metal, Erte experimented a lot with technologies and materials. Using the same techniques, he also created a series of jewelry - for example, the famous Fox necklace made in the form of fox heads made of gold and precious stones.    In the early sixties, only a few experts in the history of art remembered Erte, although he still remained in demand as a stage designer and designer: from 1950 to 58, Erte worked for the famous Parisian cabaret La Nouvelle Eve, in 1960 he made the production of Racine's Fedra , and in 1970-72 he created sets and costumes for the Roland Petit show at the Paris Casino. He designed mansions and country villas for the rich and aristocrats, mainly those who remembered his fame thirty years ago - for the American millionaire Isabella Estoric Erte designed a villa on the island of Barbados, for Elena Martini, the famous hostess of the Rasputin cabaret, Russian-born, house in Normandy.   And then something happened that could be considered a miracle - already in his advanced years, Erte was able to achieve a revival of his career. In the late sixties - early seventies of the last century, a revival of interest in art of the 20-30s began around the world, and on this wave the popularity of Erte - almost the only of the famous artists of that time who not only was still alive but also preserved his creative activity - soared to heaven.    The start of the new take-off was an exhibition in the New York Grosvenor Gallery, which was organized for Erte by his new friend, London art dealer Eric Estoric, a prominent art specialist in the early twentieth century. he and his wife, Sal, met Erte in London in 1967, and their friendship lasted until the last days of the artist. The exhibition was a phenomenal success - it was attended by all the celebrities of New York and Hollywood, and after closing it became known that the Metropolitan Museum bought almost all the exhibits at once, 170 works. According to Erte himself, “It was an unprecedented case - to buy a full exposition of a living artist”.    Moreover - the next year, the Metropolitan exhibited one hundred of the purchased works at its exhibition - it’s true, since the museum’s rules forbade a personal exhibition of living artists, the exhibition was called “Erte and contemporaries”: the works of Lev Bakst, Natalia Goncharova and others were shown along with it . The exhibition had a huge resonance - the name Erte again boomed around the world. During this period, Erte met Andy Warhol - surprisingly, but Erte's style, which was recently considered morally obsolete, made a huge impression on Warhol: the simplicity and imagination, laconicism and a bright palette of Erte's graphics had a noticeable effect on the manner of the late Warhol.    Inspired by his new success, Erte decided to re-release his early graphic series. In 1968, Numbers were released, followed by Six Gemstones, Four Seasons, Four Aces, and his most famous series, Alphabet, created back in the 1920s. The drawings became so popular that fragments of the series became real emblems of the new time - all over the world they were printed on towels, mugs, T-shirts and plates.    Performed personally by the artist in the technique of seriography — each section of the color was stained separately, and such sections were superimposed on each other — 75 copies of the series were sold to collectors for a lot of money. Erte himself claimed that since his work required new technologies and increased accuracy of the drawing, he made - or provoked - many discoveries in the field of printing and circulation graphics. In the last years of his life, Erte annually received about one hundred million dollars in revenue from the sale of his sculptures, drawings and lithographs - in addition to private collectors, the largest museums in the world acquired works of Erte, for example, the London Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York.   The interest in him during these years seemed to be even higher than before - books about Ert and albums of his works sometimes occupied entire shelves in bookstores. In 1975, Erte released a book of memoirs, “Things I Remember,” which is still enjoying considerable success. He confessed in it: “I wear the same dress in disgust even two days in a row and eat the same food. I always loved to travel, because it adorns life. Monotony gives rise to boredom, but I have never been bored in my life. ” Indeed, it seemed that Erte was difficult to sit still: in his youth, he tirelessly cruised between France, England and the United States, in his adult years he traveled half the world - South America, Southeast Asia, North Africa and all European corners did not serve him not only constant entertainment, but also a source of inspiration.    Until recent years, Erte remained invariably elegant, fit, elegantly dressed. His always perfectly tailored classic costumes, which he wore, in the words of one journalist, “with the unique grace with which a wild cat wears its fur”, were complemented by bright original accessories made according to his own sketches. Even in his mature years, he loved shirts decorated with colorful prints, colorful neckerchiefs, original knitwear and, of course, shoes from the best craftsmen.   He spent all his time traveling around the world, and everywhere he had friends and fans. He spent a lot of time in Mallorca, where he had a summer residence: every day to maintain his form, he sailed several kilometers into the sea, invariably took long walks and worked until the last days of his life. He painted with oil, gouache and feather, made sketches of furniture, posters, lamps and jewelry, playing cards and drawings for clothes. In 1982, he made a present for his anniversary - he released a magnificent album of his works “Erte at ninety years old”, five years later another album was released - “Erte at ninety-five”, and then “Erte Sculpture”. The books had a lot about creativity, about outlooks on life, about the countries where he happened to visit, about the people with whom he had to work, and very little about Erta himself. He didn’t love when someone intervened in his personal life, and he himself preferred not to talk about it. He was ninety-seven years old when he designed his last performance, the Broadway musical Stardust. In April 1990, Erte and his friends were on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. There he suddenly fell ill - he was taken to a Paris hospital by private jet, but despite all the efforts of the doctors, Erte passed away in three weeks - April 21. Erte arranged his invitation cards for his funeral in advance - they were sent out according to a list compiled by him, and all the little things of the ceremony were also thought out by him in advance. Even the luxurious coffin was made according to his own sketch: mahogany decorated with floral wreaths in the style of Art Deco. His body rests in the Boulogne Cemetery, next to his parents. Erté was a Russian artist and designer known for his glamorous opera sets, jewelry, costumes, and graphic arts. His work is quintessentially emblematic of the Art Deco style in its use of tapering lines and simplified ornamentation inspired by the natural world. Born Roman Petrovich Tyrtov on November 23, 1892 in St. Petersburg, Russia to an aristocratic family, he moved to Paris in 1910, disobeying his father’s wishes for him to become a naval officer. In 1915, he secured a contract with Harper’s Bazaar magazine, producing numerous illustrations and other media. Today, Erté’s work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He died on April 21, 1990 in Paris, France. Erté was born Romain de Tirtoff in St. Petersburg, Russia on November 23rd, 1892. The only son of an admiral in the Imperial Fleet, he was raised amidst Russia's social elite. As a young boy, Romain worshipped his mother and was educated at home until the age of twelve, spending much of the time in the company of elegant women. At the age of five he created an evening gown for his mother and managed to persuade the adults to craft it, they were astounded by the results. He was also 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. In 1912, Romain left St. Petersburg for Paris at the age of nineteen with the aim of becoming an artist. He took nothing with him and as it turned out he was leaving Russia forever; all his youthful projects were lost – and with them the Russia in which he had grown up in. In December of 1912, Romain managed to find work as a draughtsman in a second-rate fashion house called Caroline. However, at the end of his first month there, the Madame and owner of the establishment, handed back his drawings and offered some maternal advice: to abandon his hopes of becoming an artist since he had no such talent. In response, Erté put all of his sketches and designs in an envelope and sent them to the most famous person in the world of fashion – Paul Poiret, “Paul le Magnifique”. Paul Poiret immediately offered for him to work at his company, which in the early 20th century, was setting the standard to all that Erté would become a revolutionary force within in Parisian fashion world. It can only be assumed that Poiret saw in the young Russian a talent that would enable him to take up the couturier’s ideas, and develop them himself. Still under-age, however, Romain would need his father’s signature on the work contract-something that didn’t elicit great enthusiasm from the general who had no wish for his son to embark on a career that would bring shame on their noble, military lineage. Thus, it was that he took an artistic name and became who the world knows as Erté, an abbreviation formed from the first letters in his first and last names. After working with Poiret on several theatrical productions Romain, still under the pseudonym of Erte, began to work more independently. In 1914, he created the entire wardrobe for Pierre Lou s’ Aphrodite at the Theatre de la Renaissance. Erté did not just design dresses here, he oversaw the entire creation process within Poiret’s workshop, specializing exclusively in theatrical costume and design. Throughout his career Erté continued to work within the diverse fields of stage production. He hand-crafted 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 masterpieces for the stage included extravagant production designs at venues such 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. In 1915 he began his long professional relationship with Harper's Bazaar, starting with the January Issue. From then on, every month for the next twenty years, the magazine included a colored illustration by Erté. In total, he created 240 covers for the esteemed magazine. For 6 months in 1916 Erté simultaneously worked with Vogue as well, but the owner of Harper’s Bazaar, the media magnate William Randolph Hearst, offered the artist an exclusive long-term contract that was impossible to refuse. In all, around two thousands of Erté’s delicate pen and ink compositions created the particularly recognizable style of Harper’s Bazaar in the 1920s and 30s. They made Erté famous and highly sought-after in America and his audience permanently expanded across the Atlantic. Hearst summed up this creative partnership when he said, “What would Harper’s Bazaar have been if it wasn’t for Erté”? His fashion designs also appeared in many other publications making him one of the most widely recognized artists of the 1920s. From 1915, Erté started to ask for his original drawings to be returned to him after they had been used for printing, and if this wasn’t possible, he would specially order copies of the drawings for his own possession. According to his personal calculations he created, in all, more than 17,000 works. As a result of his highly publicized success, Erté would later be called the father of the ‘Art Deco’ movement. Erté is also well-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. He used these projects to bring his love for the exotic and romantic and intertwine it with sinuous and lyrical form of the human figure. He also had a brief, and not wholly satisfactory, stint working in Hollywood in 1925, at the invitation of Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer. He found the environment unpleasing, stressful and underappreciated, having to consistently redo costumes at a moment notice. 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 a renewed demand by creating a series of colorful lithographic prints and sculptures. At the age of seventy-five, 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. In 1976 the French government awarded Erté the title of Officer of Arts and Letters, and in 1982 the Medaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris was bestowed upon him. A lifetime of international success and recognition has ensured this unique artist's place in the chronicles of art history. Today, some of his original designs still 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. The great Erté – Romain Petrovich de Tirtoff – died in April 1990 at the age of ninety-seven in Paris. 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, 1924 Afternoon dress of black and white satin designed by Erté for Harper's Bazaar, 1924 © Sevenarts Limited 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. 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. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Writings 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Early life Tirtoff 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 balancelle Career In 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 for Harper'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 Ad featuring 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. Courvoisier, Erté, no 3 "Distillation".jpg   Courvoisier, Erté, no 4 "Vieillissement".jpg   Courvoisier, Erté, no 5 "Dégustation".jpg   Courvoisier, Erté, no 6 "L'Esprit du Cognac".jpg   Courvoisier, Erté, no 7 "La Part des Anges".jpg His work may be found in the collections of several well-known museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); as well, a sizable collection of work by Erté can be found at Museum 1999 in Tokyo. Erté evening dress in beaded lamé, exhibited in the Rijksmuseum   Erte teaches Ira Reines about the art of sculpting Writings Erté (Romain de Tirtoff) by Erté; Roland Barthes. Parma : F. M. Ricci, 1970. Erté Fashions. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1972. Things I Remember: An Autobiography, Quadrangle / The New York Times Book Co., 1975, ISBN 0-8129-0575-X. Designs by Erté : fashion drawings and illustrations from "Harper's bazar" by Erté; Stella Blum. New York : Dover Publications, 1976. Erté at ninety : the complete graphics by Erté; Marshall Lee; Jack Solomon. London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982, ISBN 9780297781707. Erté : sculpture by Erté; Alastair Duncan; Pascale Millière; Lee Boltin; Studio f28. Paris : Albin Michel, 1986. Erté: My Life / My Art: An Autobiography. New York: E P Dutton, 1989.
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