Portrait of Prince Eristoff 1925

Tamara de Lempicka’s ‘Portrait of Prince Eristoff’ is rendered in oil paint on canvas, a traditional medium for portraiture, yet here it's employed with a distinctly modern sensibility. The smooth, almost machine-like finish of the paint gives the artwork a sleek, polished appearance, characteristic of the Art Deco style. Lempicka’s process involved layering paint to create sharp, defined edges and a sense of volume, particularly evident in the prince’s tailored suit and the geometric background. This was a moment when the aesthetics of industrial production infiltrated even hand-made art. Consider the social context: Lempicka was a sought-after portraitist among the wealthy elite, painting a world of privilege and luxury. The materials themselves, oil paint and canvas, became commodities within this system. It is a far cry from the gritty realities of labor during the interwar years, and yet the painting is a product of its time. Ultimately, understanding the materials and processes involved in creating ‘Portrait of Prince Eristoff’ allows us to appreciate the painting not just as a representation of wealth, but also as a material object deeply embedded in the social and economic forces of its time.