The Russian-born painter Romain de Tirtoff, who called himself Erté after the French pronunciation of his initials, was one of the foremost fashion and stage designers of the early twentieth century. From the sensational silver lamé costume, complete with pearl wings and ebony-plumed cap, that he wore to a ball in 1914, to his magical and elegant designs for the Broadway musical Stardust in 1988, Erté pursued his chosen career with unflagging zest and creativity for almost 80 years...Additional biographical information at Erte.com. Image via Large Size Paintingts and Illustrations.
He soon gained a contract with the journal Harper's Bazaar, to which he continued to contribute fashion drawings for 22 years. Erté is perhaps best remembered for the gloriously extravagant costumes and stage sets that he designed for the Folies-Bergère in Paris and George White's Scandals in New York, which exploit to the full his taste for the exotic and romantic...
There is an agreeable steakhouse in Northeast Minneapolis named in honor of him- its backroom is adorned with posters of a variety of his costumes.
ReplyDeleteEh, Erté's stuff leaves me pretty cold. He's a Beardsley-wannabe who managed to carve out a career for himself by imitating the best of previous generations. Yawn.
ReplyDeleteThere was a champagne maker (or perhaps they made "sparkling wine") who used hand-painted Erté designs as labels. I kind of wish I had absconded with a few of the empties when I was a waiter...
ReplyDelete