Adam_and_Eve_(Tamara_de_Lempicka)

<i>Adam and Eve</i> (Tamara de Lempicka)

Adam and Eve (Tamara de Lempicka)

1932 painting by Tamara de Lempicka


Adam and Eve is a 1932 oil-on-panel painting by the Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka. It is in the Art Deco style and depicts a male nude embracing a female nude who holds an apple. In the background are stylized skyscrapers. The painting is 116 by 73 centimetres (46 by 29 in), and is housed in a private collection.

Quick Facts Adam and Eve, Artist ...

Description

Lempicka was fond of repeating stories about the creation of Adam and Eve. The inspiration for this painting arose when a professional female model took a break to eat an apple. Lempicka asked her to hold the pose and started to sketch. She then invited a policeman who was making his rounds in the streets to pose for Adam.[1] Lempicka contrasts the natural beauty of human bodies beauty with a barren, industrious cityscape.[2]

Provenance

The painting previously belonged to Barbara Streisand, acquired around 1986 for $135,000. On March 3, 1996, Christie's held a dedicated sale of Streisand's collection, including Adam and Eve, which sold for $1,982,500, at the time, setting a record price for the artist at auction. Streisand told the NY Times: "We screamed when the Lempicka price went over $1 million ... I was working out with my exercise teacher and when the bidding went over the top I screamed."[3]

The work is currently in a private collection.

In the media

In December 1993, Architectural Digest featured Barbra Streisand's Art-Deco-inspired Malibu home; the front cover of the issue included an image of Streisand and Adam and Eve.[4]

In 1996, the movie First Wives Club included Adam and Eve. In the film, the painting belongs to Elise Eliot-Atchison, played by Goldie Hawn.


References

  1. [Book: Women Artists in Interwar France: Framing Femininity's, P. 187, ISBN 0-7546-6978-5]
  2. Reif, Rita (March 4, 1994). "Record Price In a Sale of Art Owned By Streisand". The New York Times.
  3. Viladas, Pilar (December 1, 1993). "Inside Barbra Streisand's House in Malibu".

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