Hello fairest of them all!
How are you this week? J Life in New Jersey is good today. It is still cold and snowy, but that’s no reason to be cranky, right? Spring is just 29 days away, and I can work with that.
This week I’ve picked a super fabulous artist to introduce you to (I mean, they’re all super fabulous, aren’t they? But this lady is extra awesome). Tamara De Lempicka was known as the “baroness with a brush” and was probably the first female artist to really be a glamour icon as well. She lived in the 1900s and was painting as early as the 1920s. Her birth name was Maria Gorska, but she changed it to Tamara, which I just love…not the name so much as the fact that she changed it, which is something I’ve always wanted to do! She lived a scandalous life, but her paintings have lines that are so strong and so clean – you can see the impact of cubism in her paintings, and she was supposedly friends with Picasso, and you can see that influence as well. She was also notoriously cranky in her later years, which I always find kind of oddly charming. When I am old, I will be cranky, too.
The first image is a photograph of Tamara – I love how glamour-y she looks! – but I really included it so I could point out something interesting that I’ve been told I do as well…in most of her paintings, she gives the subjects her nose! It’s something you’ll see a lot of artists do, if you watch closely. I think it’s because noses are so darn complex – they’re all curvy angles and tight changes without real hard lines, like eyes have, so when the nose you know best is the one you look at in the mirror every day, you stick it on everyone! This amuses me.
But look at the richness of the colors, how each painting has one really dominant color, and how she uses those very hard lines and abrupt color changes to create soft curves and so much depth – I love the ladies hair, how the curls have light in the front and dark in the depths and waves; it’s so simple and clean, and so complex at the same time! Also, look at the crazy angle of the hand of the lady in the green dress – the bottom one. That is almost impossible to do and not have it look ridiculous. All of these paintings are terrific examples of the art deco style, and I just love them. I hope you do, too!
In any case, have a beautiful day, and know that I love you and think that you’re awesome.
Hugs and kisses,
Auntie Paula
xoxoxoxoxo
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