Men of Tamara De Lempicka, Men of Art Deco

When you think of the visual art of the magnificent era of Art Deco, the first name that would come to your mind is Tamara de Lempicka. An immigrant from Russian Empire who became incredibly popular with high class, European royalties and Hollywood stars, she has never been appreciated by the art critics and has remained excluded out of the art societies. That was greatly due to her art being pretty much on the surface, not exploring deep into the subject.

At the same time her creations represent the new era of Art Deco better than anything. In her works she emphasizes and empowers the body qualities of a person greater than anyone. The body of an individual is depicted in a very monumental way! 

At the same time, she leaves the characters emotionless, almost made of concrete and steel, like the magnificent constructions of a modern era. Her style is a synthesis between cubism and renaissance: it shows a great emphasis on human figure, but she brings new techniques of portraying it.

She always remained afloat due to the fact that she had quite make wealthy partrons. To tell the truth, she was a schamelessly commercial painter. Her attempts to go into the exploration were not granted a success.

Probably one of her most famous works - self-portrait “Tamara in a Green Bugatti” shows an ultimate image of a modern age woman. But to find a new style for the present moment I would catch a glimpse of De Lempicka’s modern age men. Lets make a bit of analysis.

This is a “Cold glamour” of the Jazz age – extremely solid and updated with a bit of stylistic novelty.

These men are successful individuals on their own, but she gives them even more empowering attitude.

They wear amazing trench coats and jackets with almost no details. Mono colours. Extremely plain. These garments look as they are made entirely out of a single piece of fabric.

It is all about the garment adjusting the body shape: emphasis on tight waistline with greatly enlarged shoulders. Now I really wonder where those padded shoulders in the 80’s came from. For some reason it also reminds me of Dior Y and X shapes for women’s dresses.

With or without a belt, the waistline is kept very narrow.

Vast lapels on the coats and jackets. Looks amazing. I’m currently looking for some similar garments for men with enlarged lapels and collars. I am convinced they bring a great deal of elegance to the wearer.

The colours are glittery, but at the same time the overall mood is kept very grim.

De Lempicka’s men are very strong characters and the clothes they wear accentuate it. She puts emphasis on power, not personality. These men are cold and monumentally static; nevertheless they are dressed in an immaculate way. There is no doubt about it.