Tamara de Lempicka was a Polish painter known for her distinctive Art Deco style. In her self-portraits and depictions of chic figures, Lempicka simplified volume and space into tubular and crystalline forms. “My goal is never to copy, but to create a new style, clear luminous colors and feel the elegance of the models,” she once explained. Born on May 16, 1898 in Warsaw, Poland (then part of the Russian Empire) to a wealthy family, she spent much of her childhood in Switzerland and Italy where she was influenced by the works of Renaissance and Mannerist masters. Living in St. Petersburg during the 1917 Russian Revolution, she and her husband fled to France to escape the Bolsheviks. During the 1920s, Lempicka became an integral...