Portrait of Kizette 1924

Tamara de Lempicka's Portrait of Kizette, made with oil paint, presents us with a world seen through a highly stylized lens. Lempicka’s style favors smooth surfaces, clean lines, and a cool palette, lending a sense of detachment. Kizette’s pink dress might be saccharine in other hands, but here it’s rendered with a formality that borders on the severe. There's a real economy of means in the rendering of the dress. Look at how the shadows create volume and form. The same is true of her blond hair, rendered with dark shadows that create a feeling of depth and texture. It feels like she’s almost daring us to find emotion in it, even as she holds us at arm’s length. Like a mannequin, or a character in a play, Kizette stands before us, her expression unreadable, in this elegant composition. Lempicka’s cool detachment and formal approach contrasts strongly with someone like Alice Neel, whose psychologically intense portraits feel raw and intimate by comparison.