Erte?s Influence on the Art Deco design era?

Posted by silverwithemotion on November 9th, 2018

Romain de Tiroff was a Russian born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, which is the French pronunciation of his initials R.T. He adopted the name to avoid embarrassing his Russian father, a high ranking naval officer who wanted Romain to continue in the maritime family tradition. Erte is my absolute favorite designer!

He was a diversely talented 20th century artist and designer who flourished in an array of fields including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, interior design, costume and set design for film, theatre, opera, and interior decor.

My father often recounts how in the 70's he realised vintage fashion magazine covers were a mine of inspiration and while researching Harpers Bazaar discovered Erté, thus opening his eyes to Erte’s brilliant mind. He became almost obsessed and wanted to know and discover all he could within the treasure chest of Erté's portfolio. There seemed to be no end to his creations and he discovered that between 1915 and 1937 Erté designed over 200 covers for Harpers Bazaar and that his illustrations also graced publications such as: Illustrated London News, Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal and Vogue.

Erté was perhaps best known for his elegant and fashionable designs which were iconic manifestations of the Art Deco era. His delicate figures and sophisticated glamorous designs are instantly recognisable, and his ideas and art still influence fashion to this day. When I now pick up a book of Erté's works I experience the same thrill and excitement that my father must have felt when he first discovered his creations.