Born Romain de Tirtoff of Russian aristocracy in 1892, Erté possesed an innate ability to translate the essence of the Art Deco era into glamorous and opulent fashion illustrations and costume and set designs. One might argue that he wasn't merely an interpreter, but that he was the creator of the woman of his era.
Romain de Tirtoff became Erté (the name derived from the French pronunciation of his initials) when he moved to Paris in 1912. He worked as an illustrator for avant-garde couturier and visionary Paul Poiret. By the time he left in 1914, his original costume designs were the craze and demanded by entertainment production houses in Paris, Monte Carlo, New York, Chicago and Hollywood. He also produced a huge body of work under contract for Harper's Baazar. His ultra-stylized illustrations depict lithe ladies lavishly draped in luxuriously silver lamés, furs, head-dresses, evoking the mythological grandeur of Russia, Ancient Greece and Egypt.
Erté continued to enjoy creating costumes and sets into his latest years and was able to celebrate life with many other famed artists such as Andy Warhol. He died in 1990 in Paris.
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