Tamara de Lempicka (May 16, 1898 – March 18, 1980), noted Art Deco painter, was born Maria Górska in Warsaw, Poland.

Early life

Born into a wealthy and prominent family, her father was a Polish lawyer, her mother, the former Malvina Decler, a Polish socialite. Maria was the middle child with two siblings. She attended boarding school in [ and spent the winter of 1911 with her grandmother in Italy and the French Riviera, where she was treated to her first taste of the Great Masters of Italian painting. In 1912, her parents divorced and Maria went to live with her wealthy Aunt Stefa in St. Petersberg, Russia. When her mother remarried, she became determined to break away to a life of her own. In 1913, at the age of fifteen, while attending the opera, Maria spotted the man she became determined to marry. She promoted her campaign through her well-connected uncle and in 1916 she married Tadeusz Łempicki in St. Petersburg; a well-known ladies man, gadabout, and lawyer by title, who was tempted by the significant dowry.

Paris and Painting

In Paris, the Lempickis lived for a while from the sale of family jewels. Tadeusz proved unwilling or unable to find suitable work, which added to the domestic strain, and she gave birth to her daughter Kizette in 1919. To remedy the financial situation, Tamara decided to train herself for a career as an artist. Tamara de Lempicka attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, and studied under Maurice Denis and André Lhote. She had a natural talent and combined with a strong will to succeed, she progressed with amazing rapidity. By 1923 she was showing her work (Tamara de Lempicka Oil Paintings) at major salons and earning enough to dress in style, rent a studio, purchase a car, and open her own bank account. She embraced the bohemian artistic life but also climbed her way into Parisian high society.