the abc of the deco artist and illustrator who also distinguished himself in wearable arts and set designs…Russian Romain de Tirtoff otherwise known as Erté, started in 1927 and released fifty years later -
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.More than any other designer, Erté brought the decadent style and rich colors–jade green, crimson, and orange–of the Orient to life for Westerners. Influenced by everything from Greek vase paintings to Egyptian idols, Indian iconography and Russian religious art, Erté’s designs embraced the exotic; they often seemed straight out of Arabian Nights. Exquisitely detailed and precise, his drawings are playfully erotic, emphasizing luxury, beauty, and spectacle. The women in his drawings may be scantily clad, but the somewhat androgynous female form is beautified and celebrated rather than exploited.
