First Major US Retrospective of Art Deco Icon, Tamara de Lempicka Arrives at MFAH

With over 90 works on display, “Tamara de Lempicka” presents a new perspective on artist, her life, her work

Works of art will be on view through May 26, 2025 and is the second and final venue of this exhibition

With portraits that exude a cool elegance and enigmatic sensuality, Tamara de Lempicka (1894–1980) became one of the leading artists of the Art Deco era as she distilled the glamour and vitality of postwar Paris and the theatrical sheen of Hollywood celebrity.

Conceived by Gioia Mori, preeminent scholar of Lempicka’s work, and Furio Rinaldi, curator at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, this retrospective exhibition—the first major museum survey devoted to the artist in the United States—explores Lempicka’s distinctive style and unconventional life through over 90 paintings and drawings, which range from her first post-Cubist compositions and her coming of age in 1920s Paris, to her most famous nudes and portraits of the 1930s, to the melancholic still lifes and interiors of the 1940s.

“Tamara de Lempicka took Paris by storm in the 1920s with paintings that united classicism and high modernism to create some of the most defining works of the Art Deco era,” commented Gary Tinterow, director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. “Her brilliant portraits and figure studies quickly captured the popular imagination across Europe and the United States, but her career was eclipsed by World War II. Now her work is once again rightly in the spotlight, after being alternately celebrated, ignored, and rediscovered for almost a century. We are enormously pleased to be able to present this thoughtful, considered appraisal, one that will help ensure a lasting appreciation of Lempicka’s singular vision.”

Tamara de Lempicka describes the arc of the artist’s career in the context of her times and against the backdrop of epochal world events.

In Houston the installation will be complemented by photographs of the artist and selections from the MFAH’s permanent collection of modern design, as well as key additional loans from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, including drawings by Lempicka’s teacher and mentor André Lhote.

“Acutely conscious of fashion and design, Tamara de Lempicka also had an inventive eye for detail,” states Alison de Lima Greene, coordinating curator for the exhibition at the MFAH. “Fiercely intelligent and unapologetically ambitious, she clearly understood the power of celebrity, and she took care to present herself after the style of Hollywood stars, staging portrait-photo sessions in her studio while clad in the latest couture. At the same time, her paintings are beautifully crafted, with an assured painterly touch impossible to see in reproduction.”

SPECIAL DINING EXPERIENCE:

Michelin-starred Le Jardinier, in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, continues to explore the connection between art and cuisine with the ongoing Culinary Canvas series and has crafted two unique menu items in honor of MFAH’s new spring exhibit, Tamara de Lempicka.

The Bastion Collection’s culinary director Alain Verzeroli and executive chef Felipe Botero, crafted a dish titled the ($19) L’Art du Rouge. Inspired by the bold elegance of Lempicka’s works, this delicate yet powerful dish is a vibrant fusion of bright tomatoes and deep griotte cherries, echoing the rich, magnetic contrasts of the Art Deco era and the captivating red lipstick seen in Lempicka’s art. 

Additionally, the beverage team at Le Jardinier curated a cocktail that celebrates the life of Lempicka. Fashioned after a French 75, ($18) The Roaring Tomorrow balances its strong flavor with delicate touches of lavender and strawberry. Served in a coup as a nod to the jazz-party fever of the Art Deco era, the cocktail features Polish vodka, French brut sparkling wine, strawberry and lavender. 

Both the dish and cocktail are available through May 26 on Le Jardinier’s brunch, lunch and dinner menus. Photo credit: Alex Montoya.

TICKETS AND INFORMATION:

Visit https://www.mfah.org/

Painting photos courtesy of MFAH