Tamara de Lempicka

"I was the first woman to paint cleanly, and that was the basis of my success. From a hundred pictures, mine will always stand out." 

Tamara de Lempicka

The Polish Girl, circa 1933

 Hand Signed and Numbered Aquatint with Roulette in colour on Chine Colle paper

De Lempicka's cool, crisp and precisely executed works are in many ways at odds with her incredibly turbulent and exotic personal life, which spanned various artistic movements and European countries before finally settling in America. This 'glamour girl' of the art world was indeed a notorious figure not just for her paintings but also for her exciting and bohemian lifestyle. Part of the Parisian roaring 20's set, she was not only an artist, but a socialite from a wealthy Polish family. Her bold and distinctive style was further developed on her move to France and has often been suggested as a softer form of the Cubism movement.

TAMARA DE LEMPICKA 1898-1980

1898 - Berlin-1980 (Polish/American)

The Polish Girl / La Polonaise, circa 1933

Technique: Hand Signed and Numbered Aquatint with Roulette in colour on Chine Colle paper

Paper Size: 45.1 x 36.2 cm / 17.75 x 14.25 in

Plate Size: 34.5 x 26.5 cm / 13.4 x 10.4 in

Additional Information: This work is hand signed by the artist "T. de Lempicka" at the lower right margin,

It is also hand numbered "86/200" at the lower left margin.

The work was printed in a limited edition of 200 impressions in circa 1933.

This aquatint was closely based on Tamara de Lempicka's Oil painting on wood panel "La Polonaise" from 1933 (recorded in the catalogue raisonne as B.182)

The image of a girl, wearing a brightly-colored Polish shawl over her head, looks up from her prayer book. Along with several others, this devotional image, painted on the little mahogany panels of which the artist was so fond, is reminiscent of the art of icons.

Provenance:

Galerie Alain Blondel, Paris (label verso)

Private Collection, New York

Sotheby's New York, March 31, 2007, lot 156

The Hascoe Family Collection of Czech and Modern Art, Greenwich, Connecticut.

Literature:

1. Alain Blondel, 1999, Catalogue Raisonné de l'Oeuvre Complete deTamara de Lempicka, Lausanne: aux éditions Acatos.

reference: A.151, p. 472

Gioia Mori, 2011, Tamara de Lempicka: La Regina del Moderno, Rome, 2011, p. 361

David Hockney

'What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something, because of course art is about sharing: you wouldn't be an artist if you didn't want to share an experience, a thought.'  David Hockney

Lillie's

1970

Original hand signed and numbered lithograph on Japan Paper

 One of the most important and influential British artists of the twentieth century, David Hockney's work embodies the very essence of 60's Pop Art. His most recent retrospective, 'A Bigger Picture,' at the Royal Academy, showcased a major collection of 150 of Hockney's works spanning his three decades in the art world. Not only famous for his paintings, Hockney has worked with various different media, including photo collages, and most recently creating still life's and landscapes using his iPad.

Paper Size:  75.5 x 52.8 cm / 29.7 x 20.7 in

Image Size: 64 x 52 cm / 25.1 x 20.4 in

Additional Information: This original lithograph is hand signed in pencil by the artist "Hockney" in the lower right margin.

It is hand numbered in pencil "XXX/XXXV" (30/35) next to the signature. It is also dated "71" (1971) in pencil. 

This lithograph was the third plate in the portfolio "Europäische Graphik VII-Englische Künstler" (European Graphic-English Artists) published by Edition Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer with co-operation of the editor Felix H. Man, Munich, 1971

It was printed by Stanley Jones at the Curwen Studios, London,  in a limited edition of 35 impressions on Japan paper and 65 on Arches paper. There were a further artists proofs of respectively 12 for the edition on Japan paper and 18 for the edition on Arches.David Hockney realised this print just after the Grimms illustrations. He, at the time, found that cross-hatching could add a textural variety to his lithographs, a in Lillies 1971, and in the black and white colour versions of Flowers made of paper and ink of the same year. (See illustrations in Hockney, Pleasures of the Senses)

Literature: David Hockney prints 1954-77,  Petersburg Press for the Midland Art Group And the Scottish Arts Council, 1979

Reference: Scottish Art Council 118

Condition: Very Good Condition.

Maurice Esteve, Bougri, 1974

Maurice Esteve 1904-2001

Culan, Cher 1904-2001(French)

Bougri, 1974, Original Hand Signed and Numbered Lithograph in colours on Arches vellum paper.

Maurice Esteve was renowned amongst the School of Paris artists as one of the leading fathers of the movement Tachisme. Praised for his excellent use of colour, combined with the ability to mix various organic interweaving shapes together on the canvas, Esteve truly embodied this style of French abstract painting during the 40s and 50s. Influenced early on by the works of Cezanne, Esteve later dabbled in various artistic movements, briefly experimenting in Surrealism during the late 1920s. He held his first solo exhibition in 1930. However Esteve was not only a painter but also created textile designs, murals and collages, spanning a wide range of media to express his colours and patterns. In 1970 he was awarded the Grand Prix National des Arts and much of his work can now be seen in the Esteve Museum in Bourges, which was opened in 1987 after Esteve donated many of his works to the French city. 

Technique: Original Hand Signed and Numbered Lithograph in Colours on Arches vellum paper

Paper Size: 52 x 45 cm / 20.5 x 17.7 in

Image Size: 31.5 x 24.5 cm / 12.4 x 9.6

Additional Information: This original lithograph is hand signed in pencil by the artist "Esteve" in the lower right margin. It is hand numbered in pencil "37/50" in the lower left margin.

The work was printed in 1974 in a limited edition of 50 signed and numbered impressions. There were a further 25 artist proofs. This lithograph was later chosen to be one of the 4 prints in G. di San Lazzaro "Hommage à Maurice Esteve".

Literature: Prudhomme-Estève, Monique & Moestrup, Hans. 1986. Maurice Estève. L’Ouvre Gravé. Catalogue raisonné. Copenhague.

Reference: Prudhomme & Moestrup No. 76.

Condition: Excellent condition. Very minor small fold in the lower left corner.