Bouquet d’Hortensias et Citron

One of the greatest female painters of the 20th century, Tamara de Lempicka was a leading figure working in the Art Deco and soft Cubist styles. Making her debut at the Salon d’Autumn in 1922, Lempicka quickly became famous in Paris for her painterly and versatile brushwork. Bouquet d’Hortensias et Citron, a rare still life from that year, shows white hydrangeas juxtaposed with yellow lemons in short, thick strokes against a saturated ultramarine background. Since then, Lempicka, who lived in Paris, had absorbed the essence of post-Cubism and gradually developed a more decorative style of painting, exerting a wide-ranging influence on art, fashion, and design for generations to come.