Tamara Łempicka. Sztuka i skandal

by Laura Claridge, Ewa Hornowska (Translator)

Jedna z najwyrazistszych malarek dwudziestego wieku. I zarazem jedna z najbardziej przemilczanych.

Tamara Łempicka, płacąc ciałem za wolność swoją i męża, uciekła przed rewolucją październikową do Paryża. Tam zaczęła malować wyidealizowane portrety i akty o lekko kubistycznych formach i nasyconych barwach – dziś najbardziej znane w jej twórczości. Jednocześnie prowadziła bardzo aktywne życie towarzyskie, wdając się w liczne romanse zarówno z mężczyznami, jak i kobietami. Pod koniec lat trzydziestych znów uciekła, tym razem do Ameryki, gdzie olśniła bogaczy talentem i temperamentem. Krytycy z czasem jednak zaczęli zdecydowanie więcej uwagi poświęcać ekscesom jej prywatnego życia niż twórczości, a ona ­– pochłonięta tworzeniem własnej legendy – zrezygnowała z wystawiania swoich prac.

Dopiero niedawno talent Łempickiej odkryto na nowo. Zaczęto wymieniać ją wśród wielkich twórców epoki, jej obrazy zawisły w domach Madonny, Barbry Streisand czy Jacka Nicholsona.

11 listopada 2018 na aukcji w Nowym Yorku La Musicienne, jej praca z 1929 roku, została najwyżej wylicytowanym obrazem polskiego artysty w historii,

Teatralna, elegancka, bystra, utalentowana i nienasycona seksualnie należała do najbardziej egzaltowanych i imponujących postaci stulecia.

Genres: Biography, Art, Nonfiction, History, Art History, Biography Memoir, Feminism

501 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 1999

About the author

Laura Claridge has written books ranging from feminist theory to biography and popular culture, most recently the story of an American icon, Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners (Random House), for which she received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. This project also received the J. Anthony Lukas Prize for a Work in Progress, administered by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Born in Clearwater, Florida, Laura Claridge received her Ph.D. in British Romanticism and Literary Theory from the University of Maryland in 1986. She taught in the English departments at Converse and Wofford colleges in Spartanburg, SC, and was a tenured professor of English at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis until 1997.

She has been a frequent writer and reviewer for the national press, appearing in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Vogue, Los Angeles Times, and the Christian Science Monitor. Her books have been translated into Spanish, German, and Polish. She has appeared frequently in the national media, including NBC, CNN, BBC, CSPAN, and NPR and such widely watched programs as the Today Show.

Laura Claridge’s biography of iconic publisher Blanche Knopf, The Lady with the Borzoi, will be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux April, 2016.

Laura Claridge and her husband live in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Reviews

[Swaye · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tamara de Lempicka is my absolute favourite artist but this book was painfully tedious and boring. It could have used some rigorous editing. I was repeatedly frustrated by how the author seemed to just decide what Tamara thought or felt about something. I found the writing, on the whole, presumptuous, pretentious and even somewhat delusional in parts. As much as she tried I don't think the author got her at all.

I was so looking forward to this but alas... Very disappointing. I don't feel like this captured her. Perhaps its best that the real Tamara de Lempicka remain a mystery.

[micusiowo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bardzo ciekawa biografia - dużo szczegółów zupełnie nieznanych. Polecam.

[Linda Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

De Lempicka's work is extraordinary; her life wildly artistic.

"The sky-high prices attached to her canvases in recent years have still not dispelled the suspicions that a woman of Lempicka's glamour and fame could be a truly serious artist."

Really? Does the same criteria apply to Picasso?

"She [sic:] was determined to embody that icon of the age, the new woman."

I sort of thought she was one.

Question: What is a biographer's responsibility to her subject?

I'm reminded of the line from the movie "Practical Magic" - you can't practice the craft while turning your nose up at it.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read almost every book on the subject of De Lempicka and I have to say that although Laura Claridge makes a great effort to give us as many details as she possibly can on the artist and her surroundings, the book needs better editing. It reads like a professor going on a multiple side-note tangent and getting us all impatient, lost, and sleepy - which is a shame because the subject itself is a fascinating ♾⭐️/5.

More Tamara, less decorum!

[Heather jameyson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The problem with this book is that it was billed as a biography. It's more of an art history book that somewhat focuses on Tamara De Limpicka but Claridge gets a little long winded with 10+pages on the history of Art-Deco etc in the middle of narrating Tamara's life and the result is really boring.

[domi · Rating 1 out of 5]

i feel like author was interested in everything but Łempicka, like everytime we got one verse about her we also got three pages about this specific thing but not Łempicka. this book was just really hard to read, i had to punish myself to read every single page, and i didnt made dnf just because i love the artist. thanks

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mam bardzo mieszane uczucia. Z jednej strony wydaje mi się, że to bardzo starannie przygotowana biografia. Z drugiej, czytało mi się ją okropnie. Trudno mi tylko ocenić, czy ciężki, toporny wręcz język to kwestia autorki czy tłumaczki.

[Therese Borg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just did not enjoy reading this biography and found it off-putting. I started losing interest in the artist because of the way Claridge describes De Lempicka's sense of pride, being someone who has been brought up in an extremely elite environment. Also, the author goes into numerous, unnecessary personal life details. There were parts which I enjoyed reading: Tamara's childhood experiences, war time, her artistic influence, her adulthood in France and that is when the artist became a lot conscious of her body image. This is entirely my personal opinion about this biography. I couldn't connect very well with it. Others might find it enjoyable to read.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

How could this not be interesting? She was an aristocrat in Russia during the revolution, an odd man out in the Left Bank, in America for the stock market crash and then returned to Hollywood in the 1940s. Then she became a crazy old woman who mocked hippies and verbally abused her adult daughter. I was introduced to her through Camille Paglia's recent art book "Glittering Images." Unfortunately my library copy had all the illustrations torn out, but thank goodness for the internet.

[Fiona Zakka · Rating 2 out of 5]

A biography book I really wanted to read. While I was reading this book I felt as if the writer has not given the artist her due respect as an artist. As she often remarked in her book Tamara was more than her society life yet the author falls in the same loop and deals mostly with her extravagant life and only scratches the surface of the artist and her work. I would not recommend this biography to someone interested to n the artist but to those who like to read society magazines.

[David Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman artist who refused to be sterotyped. Fiercely individualistic she led a incredible life and created a painting style immediately identifiable, one uniquely her own. See also: "Passion By Design: The Art and Times of Tamara De Lempicka," by her daughter, Baroness Kizette De Lempicka / Abbeville Press, NY, 1987. It is richly illustrated with many of Tamara’s paintings.

[Ania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo dobra biografia jednej z najbardziej tajemniczych malarek XX wieku. Widać ogromną i drobiazgową pracę biografki włożoną w opisanie, zwłaszcza owianego tajemnicą życia prywatnego, malarki. Publikacja bardzo dobrze wyważa treści dotyczące prywatności oraz malarstwa Łempickiej i jego wpływu na zarówo ówczesne jak i dzisiejsze malarstwo. W związku z tym, moim zdaniem, spodoba się odbiorcy, który rozpoczyna swoją przygodę z twórczością bohaterki i chce poznać okoliczności powstania jak i wpływ jej najważniejszych dzieł na historię sztuki, jak i temu, kogo interesuje tylko i wyłącznie jej barwne życie osobiste. Do książki mam dwa zarzuty: 1 brak ilustracji do wielu omawianych dzieł. 2 przypisy, które w tym wypadku bardzo dużo wnoszą deo treści i opisują niektóre niezawarte lub tylko wspomniane ogólnikowo fakty, zostały umieszczone na końcu dość grubej pracy, przez co trochę uciążliwe jest przerzucanie dużej ilości stron i odnajdywanie właściwej adnotacji wśród średnio ponad stu odnośników do jednego rozdziału. Dużo łatwiej byłoby, gdyby przypisy znajdowały się na dolnym bądź bocznym marginesie strony, na której są zaznaczone.
Polecam znawcom malarstwa i miłośnikom wszechstronnych biografii.

[Hotspur · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has contrived to write a book in the spirit of her subject. It is a supercilious work in every aspect. The author regularly imagines the subject's point of view and makes almost declarative statements on Ms. De Lempicka's life and decisions without any support to do so. Yet, it seems Ms. DeLempicka was rather loose with the truth, and supercilious herself in every endeavor. So, I am left giving this a three star rating as the author did write this biography in a likely more subdued spirit than Ms. DeLempicka.

Ms. De Lempicka is a wonderful artist, fusing cubism, art deco, the renaissance and modernity in each work. I would have liked ten times the amount of time and explanation spent on her works. Ms. DeLempicka herself seems to have had an untreated personality disorder, and was thoroughly intolerable as a person if Ms. Claridge is to be believed.

This was the last unboxed book left (and was the wifes), which was read while the Covid-1984 totalitarian takeover began--and continues with no end in sight.

[frikatrika · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
What this book left me with was the need to find a better biography of Łempicka, becasue this one was frankly pretty terrible. Lots of completely irrelevant information as well as constantly deviating from the topic made it very difficult to read. The only thing that kept me going was my ever-growing obsession with Tamara. It seems like the more I know about her, the less I understand her, and that only makes her more fascinating.

[Jwt Jan50 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came across Lempicka while helping the son prep for an Art History exam while he was at Oregon. Growing up on Anastasia and Dr Zhivago, always intrigued with the Russian emigre. Not a great biography, but good. Especially considering Tamara's somewhat tempestuous life. Not a boring book of a not boring life.

[Karolina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to read it as some descriptions are very long and detailed. Nevertheless, it is worth reading it to get to know one of the most interesting Polish painters whose paintings are loved i.a. by Madonna. It is original and eccentric Tamara’s personality which makes this book so interesting.

[Ania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and full of details about Łempicka life - from her childhood till her death. Some parts of her life are more interesting (Russia, Paris) and some are provided in a factual, boring manner. Overall it's a good book, but be prepared to read a lot about art in general and places that Tamara lived in l.

[Alka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nie mam w zwyczaju czytać biografii, jednak dla mnie Tamara Łempicka jest nieziemską malarką. Dowiedziałam się przeróżnych rzeczy o jej barwnym życiu prywatnym jak i zawodowym, jednak było wiele takich momentów albo wstawek, przez które książka mi się dłużyla i byly po prostu nudne.

[Aga]

Love Tamara Łempicka, this book, not so much.

[Magdalena Wajda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating biography of a fascinating woman, but a bit overloaded with art theories.

[CHILTONM]

DNF. Still interested in reading about her but this is too dense for me right now

[Aleksandra Strasza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascynująca kobieta, ale książka bardzo często odbiegała od głównego tematu przez co potwornie się dłużyła

[ag]

mega super książka daje 4.9 gwiazdek

[Natasza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skończyłam tą cegłę po 10 miesiącach i ciężko się czytało i uważam to za lekko stracony czas lecz muszę przyznać że Życie Tamary było bardzo interesujące 2.5

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating life story of Polish greatest artist. Very controversial and underestimated all of her life.

[✩ · Rating 2 out of 5]

biografia łempickiej, w której jej zabrakło

[Cris · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10. This woman has always inspired me and learning more about her life only increased my admiration towards her.

[Kinga Máhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I have always been fascinated by Lempicka's art I didn't use to know much about her life. This was an interesting reading - what a character and what an extraordinary life story!

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claridge has done her homework here to an astonishing degree. The amount of research put into pealing back the layers of time and mystery that have surrounded the life of one of the 20th century's most fascinating painters is incredible. This book should be on the shelf of any Lempicka fan if for no other reason than it debunks the most popular myths of the others books by so called "scholars" littering the same shelf left and right.

The writing in this is incredibly dense. There's just so much material to cover here that there's no other way this book could be written even semi-competently without even half of the information present here. And what information there is! I knew Tamara lived the high life in Paris but the ammount of drugs, alcohol and sex present in this book are insane. Couple this with heart wrenching affairs, royal bumfoolery and daring political escapes and you have only one tenth of what the life of this woman was about.

One thing more that I wish to address is the statement by another reviewer on here that this is more of an art history book than I biography. I would say the the truth lies somewhere between the two. While this is a very in depth biography there were times that I did find myself having to pause time and time again to look up certain names, dates and places to see what the author referenced off handedly throughout the book. Some names are easier to pick up than others - Lhote, Denis and Marinetti are easy to pick out, but some of the more obscure ones took away a lot of time from reading this. So yes, not exactly a book you can blow through in a matter of days unless you're willing to make some sacrifices as you go.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book.

Like her book on Emily Post, she looks at more than just the artist she is writing about, she also looks at the world at large that helped shape them and vice versa. I was aware of this artist work, but never new her name. I only read this book based on the strength of the authors work on the Emily Post one.

Tamra De Lempicka was a fascinating woman, a highly talented artist whose personal life sabotaged her professional and critical opportunities.

But rather than arguing that she should have changed her way of life and outlook to cultivate more appropriate and useful friends, critical reviews or artistic acceptance, I feel this book shows the weakness of the system as a whole.

Her art work is phenomenal, beautiful and unique and deserved to be taken on it's own merit, not marginalized becuase she held different social and political views or valued being a socialite as well as an artist.

My one gripe is one I almost always have about biographies of artists. They will go into great detailed descriptions of artworks and not provide even so much as a black and white photo (though I must say there are several gorgeous color prints of her most recognizable works), but they will include photographs of people mentioned once and never again.

Don't describe a painting, show it!