The Telephone 1930

Tamara de Lempicka, sometime in the early to mid 20th century, painted ‘The Telephone’ with what looks like oil on canvas. Look at those sharp, crisp lines, like someone’s sliced the scene into polished facets! I’m fascinated by the way she blends a geometric sensibility with a kind of cool, detached sensuality. You get a real sense of a person in control, even in the midst of this very modern, fragmented world. Note the way she uses the colours in a way that's almost sculptural – the blues and purples really give depth to the figure, they’re creating shadows in her dress that makes it three-dimensional. And how about that little sliver of red on her lips? It's almost a rebellion against the geometric austerity of the rest of the painting. It's a spark of warmth in a world of cold surfaces, maybe a nod to Picasso, but with a totally different mood. It's really interesting to see her taking this language and making it totally her own.