Tamara De Lempicka 1898to –1980

Polish art deco painter, glamorous socialite. Born to a wealthy family in Poland, she escaped to Paris with her husband in 1918, where she immediately began to pursue painting. Her style borrowed from the deconstructed forms of the cubists, combined with the sleek decadence of art deco. Well known for her scandalous sexual appetite along with her art, she was constantly having affairs with men and women, and fell into a circle of notable bisexual women including Vita Sackville-West and Colette. In 1939, she moved to America with her second husband to escape WWII, and became a favorite artist among the Hollywood set. Her work fell out of favor in the 1960s, only to find a new surge of popularity shortly before her death.