Roland Barthes (author)
William Weaver (translator)
Pietro Miliani (papermaker)
Erté
Franco Maria Ricci, Parma: July, 1972
Folio, silk covers, gilt title and spine, slipcase
Numbered Edition 1869/2000
14 x 9.5 inches, overall
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.
Erté Art & Costume Design
Limited Edition Book
Limited Edition Book
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Fine collection of costume designs by the famous artists, costume and fashion designer, Erté (Romain de Tirtoff, 1892-1990) published and designed by Franco Maria Ricci. 75 tipped-in full color plates show his most famous work such as the “letter women” alphabet figures and “number women.” The illustrations are accompanied by an excerpt from his memoirs and text by the prominent French literary theorist and art critic Roland Barthes.
Erté was a leading Art Deco artist known for his sculpture, graphic arts and designs for theater. Early on, he adopted the name Erté as an acronym for the French pronunciation of his initials, R.T. He began receiving notice for his fashion design prior to World War I, including costumes for Anna Pavlova, Sarah Bernhardt, and the notorious Mata Hari, but achieved lasting fame in the 1920s and 1930s for his theater designs and covers for the fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar. His illustrations also appeared in Vogue, the Illustrated London News, Cosmopolitan and Ladies’ Home Journal. His theater credits included the Ziegfield Follies, the Folies-Bergere and Broadway shows. In 1965, he became affiliated with Seven Arts Ltd. of New York and London. Seven Arts arranged an exhibition of 170 works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which the museum purchased after the exhibition, an unprecedented event for a living artist. In the Seventies and Eighties, encouraged by Seven Arts, he turned to printmaking, producing lithographs and silkscreen prints of such designs as “The Alphabet” and “The Numbers” series, some of which are included in this book. Late in life, he also produced sculpture in his Art Déco style. His long and prolific career continued until shortly before his death at age 97.
Reference:
Riding, Alan. “Erte, a Master of Fashion, Stage and Art Deco Design, Is Dead at 97.” New York Times on the Web Learning Network. 22 April 1990. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1123.html (11 February 2005).