Education
Sleek and sexy Erté images fetch fancy prices at auction
Erté, born Romain de Tirtoff on November 23, 1892, was a child prodigy who began his fashion career at age six when his mother had a dress made from one of his first sketches. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, he left for Paris at age nineteen to pursue a career in the arts. He assumed the professional name "Erté" because that's how his initials, "R.T.," were pronounced in both French and Russian. He created costumes for the notorious Mata Hari and movie stars such as Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer. He also fashioned sets and costumes for Hollywood films, the Folies Bergeres and the Paris Opera, just to mention a few. Erté began his climb to international fame at the great fashion house of Paul Poiret. With the onset of WWI in Europe, many of the great fashion houses shut down and Erté was forced to turn to other design avenues. In 1914, he began what would turn into a 22-year affiliation with the American magazine "Harper's Bazaar". His many illustrations graced not only the covers, but filled the pages as well. For more than eight decades, Erté thrilled critics and his public alike with spectacular work in fashion, theater, opera, ballet, film, television and fine art. He designed exquisite Art Deco jewelry, bronze sculpture and costumes. When designing costumes, he used gouache, a mixture of watercolor and white paint. This medium had the color range and flexibility he needed to do highly detailed work without the extended drying time that oil paint requires.
Harem dress
Erté and his Art Deco style enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the mid-'60s with his Paris exhibition of "Formes Picturales," a group of painted sculptures of various materials. In the late '60s, the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased an entire collection of 179 works from Erté's exhibition in New York. Erté has largely been credited with the creation of the field of limited edition graphics as it is known today. At age 88, he began his work in bronze sculpture, achieving equal success with this medium. Erté truly became a classic during his own lifetime, a prominent figure in the progression of art and fashion. Erté's artistic career continued until his death in 1990. His Art Deco costume designs are in every major museum throughout the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the L.A. County Museum in Los Angeles.
Costume design for The Marriage of Figaro
 | 'Beloved' sculpture |
By Aileen Forman