The Model 1925

Tamara de Lempicka created 'The Model' using oil paints, applying them with brushes onto a canvas. These are conventional materials, but look closely, and you'll see the artist's distinctive approach. The surfaces are remarkably sleek and polished, almost like a car’s bodywork. Lempicka likely built up thin layers of pigment, carefully smoothing each coat to achieve this hyper-refined effect. This approach resonates with the sleek aesthetics of the Art Deco movement, but it also speaks to the industrial age, embracing the visual language of machinery, efficiency and mass production. The smoothness of form evokes the machine-made, and the lack of visible brushstrokes gives a sense of detachment; an almost artificial quality that chimes with broader social themes. By using these materials in a way that downplays the artist's hand, Lempicka makes a statement about modern life, and its relationship to luxury and desire.