CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, December 06, 2017

Erté and the enduring appeal of Art Deco

Creative Review: Erté was the pseudonym of Russian-born Frenchman, Romain de Tirtoff (1892-1990), an artist, illustrator and designer whose lavish Art Deco creations enjoyed a wide range of applications – from fashion and magazine design, to sets and costumes for theatre, opera and film.

1 comment:

Madeleine Evans said...

I really appreciated this article, but wanted more background on both the artist and the images displayed. The snippet we get about Erte--"Erté was the pseudonym of Russian-born Frenchman, Romain de Tirtoff (1892-1990), an artist, illustrator and designer whose lavish Art Deco creations enjoyed a wide range of applications – from fashion and magazine design, to sets and costumes for theatre, opera and film" is enough to attract interest, but doesn't go into really much more depth in the artist, the art deco period, or even his creations in theatre, opera, and film. It seems from most of the drawings that they images are from fashion spreads, which while still very interesting, leave me feeling like I want more. I would have loved to have seen renderings, drawings, sketches from theatrical or opera work, especially in regards to the scenery and costumes. Little snippets are peppered through-out, Erte for example was behind the movement of theatre into fashion. The article states: "as a 21 year-old in Paris, Erté had already gained work at the esteemed couturier House of Poiret where, as the late critic Brian Sewell writes in his essay for the book, “he brought theatre into the field of fashion." That alone sounds like it it is worth some sort of long form essay, and would be a wonderful story to see told.