Erte Brooch
Item Number: 602
Time Left: CLOSED
Value: $3,500
Online Close: Apr 19, 2006 5:00 PM EDT
Bid History: 0 bids
Description
This superbly crafted, intricately designed Erte "Art to Wear" jewelry is produced form original sketches and molds that were used by the artist. This is a stunning, signed and numbered ERTE brooch depicting Erte's unique rendering of the Letter 'W' in his Alphabet series. Paris-based artist Erte (Romain de Tirtoff) was an artistic genius
born in Russia in 1892. He died in 1990 after
a brilliant career in the worlds of art, fashion, and theatre.
Erte designed 240 covers for Harper's Bazaar. In 1929-67, he developed the Alphabet theme as a series of paintings, interpreting the 26 letters of the alphabet with stylized, human forms. He transformed each letter of his alphabet into Art to Wear jewelry
in 1987.
Special Instructions
The Russian-born painter Romain de Tirtoff, who called himself Erté after the French pronunciation of his initials, was one of the foremost fashion and stage designers of the early twentieth century. From the sensational silver lamé costume, complete with pearl wings and ebony-plumed cap, that he wore to a ball in 1914, to his magical and elegant designs for the Broadway musical Stardust in 1988, Erté pursued his chosen career with unflagging zest and creativity for almost 80 years. On his death in 1990, he was hailed as the "prince of the music hall" and "a mirror of fashion for 75 years".