concept:era modern
Auto-Portrait (Tamara in a Green Bugatti)
Oil on panel by Tamara de Lempicka (1929). Self-portrait as a fashionable, independent woman at the wheel of a Bugatti — helmeted, grey-gloved, gazing coolly at the viewer. Commissioned by Die Dame magazine. The canonical Art Deco image of female modernity. Private collection.
Scholarly Significance
Anchor Art Deco figurative painting with Lempicka's Auto-Portrait.
Notes
- ·Commissioned by German magazine Die Dame — representing the modern sophisticated European woman.
- ·Lempicka shows herself at the wheel of a Bugatti (she owned a small Renault; the car is idealized).
- ·Became a defining symbol of female independence, glamour, and modernity in the interwar period.
- ·Widely reproduced; considered the quintessential Art Deco self-portrait.
- ·Has been in private collections since mid-20th century; exact ownership history partially documented.