Tamara de Lempicka

Tamara de Lempicka (May 16, 1898 - March 18, 1980), noted Art Deco painter, was born Maria Gorska in a wealthy family in Warsaw, Poland (then in the Russian Empire).

Related Topics:
May 16 - 1898 - March 18 - 1980 - Art Deco - Warsaw - Poland - Russian Empire

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In 1912, after her parents divorced, she was sent by her grandmother to school in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1914 she married a lawyer named Tadeusz Lempicki in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1915, during the Russian Revolution, Tadeusz was arrested by the Bolsheviks. Although only seventeen years old, Tamara pleaded for, and finally secured, his release.

Related Topics:
Lausanne - Switzerland - St. Petersburg - Russia - Russian Revolution - Bolsheviks

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The Lempickis then fled to Paris, France where she became known as Tamara de Lempicka. She studied art and became a well-known portrait painter, developing a distinctive and bold style which epitomizes the cool modernism of Art Deco.

Related Topics:
Paris - France - Art Deco

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At the outset of the second World War she moved to Beverly Hills, California with her second husband, Baron Raoul Kuffner. In 1943 they relocated to New York City where she continued to paint in her trademark style.

Related Topics:
Second World War - Beverly Hills - California - Raoul Kuffner - New York City

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After Baron Kuffner's death in 1962, Tamara moved to Houston, Texas and began painting in a new style, using a palette knife rather than a brush to lay down the paint. Her new paintings were not well received, and Tamara swore that she would never exhibit her work again.

Related Topics:
Houston - Texas

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In 1978 she moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico. She died in her sleep on March 19, 1980 and her ashes were scattered over the volcano Popocatepetl.

Related Topics:
Cuernavaca - Mexico - March 19 - 1980 - Popocatepetl

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