by 14 people |
Erte Created the Elegant Glamour that Made the Golden Age of Hollywood
Erte, a Russian Artist, had a special view of women. The way Erte looked at women, drew them, envisioned them, sculpted them, made me believe I was born in the wrong decade!
He saw the power of the female form, the hourglass shape, the elegance of length and accessorization; femininity without the ridiculous.
What woman wouldn't want to be seen the way this man saw them!
His art deco designs, arrangements of clothing, color and environments, and the long, tall and cool roaring twenties style, I believe was instrumental in the movement to see women as equal, beautiful and special. He defined the elegance of Hollywood, nightclubs, adult womanhood, and haute couture.
Where would the art deco/nouveau style, Hollywood's greatest actresses and movies; and France's style industry, be without Erte?
Influences
Erte reported complete independence in his designs
"Not Only do I do what I want to do, but I do my work in my own way and never have been influenced by another artist. The sole influences on my art, through the course of my entire career, were the Persian and Indian Miniatures and Greek vases I saw in my childhood at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (Now Leningrad). I think that these influences have stayed with me to this day, although they were assimilated long ago." Excerpt from "At Ninety"Those influences must have so deeply inspired his imagination at such a young age, that they kept his mind, vision and ideas prolific for the rest of his long life!
Erte MADE The Glamour Era in Hollywood!
Erte's Biography
From American Fine Arts Institute
Erte was born Romain de Tirtoff in St. Petersburg Russia in 1892. The only son of an admiral in the Imperial Fleet, he was raised amidst Russia's social elite. As a young boy, he was fascinated by the Persian miniatures he found in his father's library. These exotic, brightly patterned designs continued to be important to him and influenced the development of his style. He moved to Paris at the age of eighteen and took the name Erte, from the French pronunciation of his initials, R and T. In 1915 he began his long relationship with Harper's Bazaar, during which time he created over 240 covers for the magazine. His fashion designs also appeared in many other publications, making him one of the most widely recognized artists of the 1920s. He also designed costumes and sets for the theater. In 1976 the French government awarded Erte the title of Officer of Arts and Letters, and in 1982 the Medaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris was bestowed upon him.Erte's work has exhibited in prominent museums around the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum in California, The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England, and more. Erte is credited as being the originator of the Art Deco Movement and is the style for which he is identified.
Erte and Dimensional Designing
Particular challenges
"For me, sculpting is a natural impulse; in my creative technique I conceive designs in three dimensions.... It is impossible for a fashion designer to produce a model of each design, so he must be content with a drawing. Any designer is thus restricted to two dimensions, and a fashion designer is also confined to the physical proportions of the human being, a beautiful but rather predictable form. Sculpting - working in three dimensions - has relieved me of these restrictions and has allowed me to exercise all of my creative impulses, including the use of color and the modeling of fantastic forms. The greatest thrill of any fashion designer is to see his drawing come to life - to rise from the flat page and be worked into costumes that transform the wearer into an object of beauty and desire. Only when a design is realized can its success be properly judged. I am filled with a sense of excitement whenever I see and touch a bronze from my Sculpture Collection, through which I have been able to see my drawings, thoughts, ideas, and dreams come to life as never before" From "Erte Sculpture" Erte Defined the Glamour that Created the Golden Age of Film
Powerful Female Sexuality without Indecency
Coming off of Victorian era clothing, Hollywood would NEVER have gotten its reputation for glitz, starlight and glamour if it wasn't for Erte and the special vision he had of women.Censorship was very strict in the early days of Hollywood, but Erte's designs and overall look enabled costume designers to create profoundly sexy, incredibly feminine and unimaginably gorgeous costumes for the greatest and most beautiful actresses, movies and roles- still unmatched on all those scores.
No designer, no movie, no actress even comes close today. No designer has inspired so much, such beauty or such greatness in fashion as Erte. Honestly, the designers of today really have much more cause for shame than pride.
Erte
Extraordinary, Romantic Art Deco Sculpture
See What Inspired Hollywood Costumes and Sets!
This bronze Erte sculpture may remind you of the great musicals and their costumes, the great Hollywood glamour films, the most gorgeous and glittery nightclubs in Vegas.It is no accident that these places took their inspiration from Erte, the Art Deco and Art Nouveaux movement.
The looks were mature but gorgeous, adult without being stuffy, sexy without being cheap.
These places, this entertainment, were for full-grown adults that knew what it meant to be men and women, not old children or teens.
They lived and loved as if their lives depended on it, and they elevated the image and esteem of America around the world.
Erte Links
Erte - Gallery 1
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ERTE'S Website
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Erte-Biography
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Amazing Fashion Designer: Erte
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Getty Research
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Erte on Artnet
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Art Nouveaux Liz
Art Nouveau Antiques
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Erte Himself, On Himself
Erte: My Life, My Art
Amazon Price: $195.00 (as of 07/06/2009)
Erte's own biography explaining himself, his vision, his art.
An extraordinary story by an extraordinary and influential artist, he changed the world.
Erte Collectibles
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byErte Greeting Cards- Stand Out in the Crowd Elegantly!
3 pack of 6 Assorted Erte 1920s 1930s Art Deco Fancy Greeting Cards (Blank inside) (Set #1)
Amazon Price: $65.99 (as of 07/06/2009)
Rare, unusual and beautiful Erte Greeting Cards with some of his finest and most fabulous drawings.
Blogging Erte
- Twentieth-Century Stage Design On Exhibit at Morgan
- ... Nikola? Pavlovich Akimov, Robert Edmond Jones, Lee Simonson, Claude Fayette Bragdon, Woodman Thompson, Norman Bel Geddes, Serge Soudeikine, Erté, ...
- At Old Red Barn, ROUTE 211 & 209 , CUDDEBACKVILLE, NY
- 'The Angel' serigraph signed & numbered Erte, Marc Chagall lithograph "Blue Still Life" 1957, Marc Chagall 1979 "Nice Soleil Fluers", several Picasso ...
- Holographic Creative Services Introduces Print E-HoloGrams Print ...
- Her collaborations include Artists, Erte (aka, the Father of Art Deco), Yoko Ono and the Estate of John Lennon, Al Hirschfeld, Chuck Jones, Maxfield Parrish ...
- And they called it, khaki love...
- Unique, hand-drawn prints influenced by art deco masters like Erte constitute their signature style ? simple but enhanced by feminine details and elegant ...
Erte on Disc
Erte' The Complete Graphic Works on CD
Amazon Price: $99.95 (as of 07/06/2009)
Erte's complete graphic collection CD for you to look at and examine how truly brilliant and revolutionary he was.
His vision transformed everything from theater costumes to architecture, and this vision re-defined the modern era.
Erte Fans Guestbook
Tell us what YOU love about Erte!
There is plenty of room to build this page about Erte. What do you like about him? What would you like to see?
Ann Marie wrote
I would like to find more photos of his costume designs online. I own a costume with an Erte
label, and am wondering where it came from.
Posted February 01, 2009
spirituality wrote...
Great lens. I'd definitely enjoy seeing more pictures though.
Posted May 21, 2008
chefkeem wrote...
I must be a giant rube - I had no idea about this incredible man. Your lens taught me a lot! 5*s
Posted May 20, 2008
