Portrait of the Duchess de la Salle
| Portrait of the Duchess de la Salle |
|---|
| Tamara de Lempicka , 1925 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 161 × 96 cm |
| Private collection
Link to the picture |
The portrait of the Duchess de la Salle (original title: Portrait de la Duchesse de la Salle ) is one of the most famous paintings by the Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka . The picture from 1925, which is now in a private collection, was painted in oil on canvas and has the dimensions 161 × 96 cm.
description
The painting shows the Duchess de la Salle, Marika de la Salle de Rochemaure, in a riding costume as a full figure. She stands with her legs apart on a landing, which is covered by a red carpet, with the right, straight leg on the landing and the left leg slightly raised on the lower step, which makes it angled. The left arm is supported at an angle on a base covered by the curtain, while the left hand on the arm, which is also angled, is put in the pocket of the pants. The equestrian suit consists of a black frock coat with sweeping skirt tails and black trousers, which are shown to be wide on the right thigh and very tightly cut on the left. In addition, the Duchess wears a strictly cut white blouse with a deep V-neckline and tight, shiny black riding boots that reach to the knees .
The head is tilted forward and the gaze is directed towards the viewer of the picture. The lips are painted light red (crimson), which makes them appear in the same shade as the carpet. There is also blush on the cheeks and a beauty mark over the upper lip. The black and purple hair is a severe bob with a central apex cut.
The background is taken up by a cubist cityscape on the left and a dark curtain on the right. On the left edge of the picture there is a column that frames the city together with the curtain and emphasizes the elevated position of the lady. The elevated position and posture create the impression of ruler of the city depicted. In the upper right corner, a small patch of blue sky peeks out from behind the curtain.
The painting is signed on the upper right with T. de Lempicka .
The portrayed
The sitter was born in Athens in 1887 and married Duke de la Salle de Rochemaure in 1905. After the couple divorced, she retained the title of duchess and was initially able to lead an elaborate lifestyle with the support payments from her former husband. She supported various contemporary artists, including Tamara de Lempicka and the British painter Marlow Moss . After she lost her fortune in the 1930s, she and her daughter settled in an alpine village, where she died in 1973.
In 1928 Tamara de Lempicka also portrayed Romana de la Salle, the daughter of Marika de la Salle, in two paintings. In the portrait of the Romana de la Salle in profile she is shown in the head profile, while in the portrait of the Romana de la Salle from the same year she is painted almost in full portrait.
interpretation
The painting of the Duchess de la Salle can be interpreted as an outbreak of the role assignment of women, which was typical of the 1920s. The Duchess ' consciously “male” body language is iconographically based on the tradition of male rulers' portraits. The red carpet, the curtain or the column on the left edge of the picture underline this reference to Baroque models. At the same time, the female hips and thighs of the sitter are emphasized by the sweeping lap of the frock coat, the right hand points in the direction of the step and thus the gender in the center of the picture. The cut of the pants with the wide right leg and the contrasting very narrow left leg emphasize this focus.
The Duchess embodies the self-confident, modern and sporty as well as very androgynous woman who determines her sexual role herself. The strict, helmet-like bob with the precisely parted, black-purple hair emphasizes a type of woman that is regarded as “strong”, as it was picked up by the painter herself and a few years later by actresses like Marlene Dietrich .
Provenance
In 1928 Tamara de Lempicka's bedroom was renovated by the photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue with two large-format portraits of Dr. Pierre Boucard in the foreground as a half-finished charcoal drawing and the Duchess de la Salle as a painting above the bed, and a lacquer picture she designed of two women nudes wrapped around the bed head.
The painting was in a French private collection for several years before it was first offered in 1988 by the Paris gallery du Luxenbourg and then by the New York art dealer Barry Friedman . The German fashion designer Wolfgang Joop bought the picture from him in 1991 and loaned it out repeatedly for exhibitions in the following years. At an auction in the Sotheby’s store on May 5, 2009 in New York, the painting went to a collector whose name was unknown for $ 4,450,500.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b Stefanie Penck: Tamara de Lempicka. Prestel Verlag, Munich 2004, pp. 40–41, ISBN 3-7913-3170-1 .
- ↑ a b c d e Kerstin Stremmel: Portrait of the Duchess de la Salle. In: Kerstin Stremmel: Realism. Taschen GmbH, Cologne 2004, pp. 62–63, ISBN 3-8228-2939-0 .
- ↑ Description portrait of the Duchess de la Salle at auction house Sotheby’s (English) ( page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Description portrait of Romana de la Salle in profile in the digital catalog of works by Alain Blondel (English) ( page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Description of the portrait of Romana de la Salle in Alain Blondel's digital catalog of works (English) ( page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Tag Gronberg: Le peintre installé par la femme - artists and femininity. In: Kunstforum Wien & Royal Academy of Arts London 2004.
literature
- Gilles Néret: Tamara de Lempicka 1898–1980. Taschen Verlag, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-8228-6593-1 .
- Stefanie Penck: Tamara de Lempicka. Prestel Verlag, Munich 2004, pp. 40–41, ISBN 3-7913-3170-1 .
- Kerstin Stremmel: Portrait of the Duchess de la Salle. In: Kerstin Stremmel: Realism. Taschen GmbH, Cologne 2004, pp. 62–63, ISBN 3-8228-2939-0 .
Web links
- Description in the digital catalog of works by Alain Blondel (English) ( page no longer available )
- Description at the auction house Sotheby’s (English) ( page no longer available )
