Erté (Romaine de Tirtoff) (Russian-French, 1892-1990), Costume Design for a Jester

Gouache on paper with pencil and ink inscriptions detailing accessories and colors, circa 1940, signed, matted and framed under glass.

Sight size 12 3/4 x 9 1/2 in.; Frame dimensions 21 1/4 x 17 1/4 in.

Private Collection, Pinehurst, North Carolina

Erté, born Romain de Tirtoff in St. Petersburg in 1892, was a Russian-born French artist and designer best known for his defining influence on the Art Deco movement. After moving to Paris in the early twentieth century, he developed a distinctive style characterized by elongated figures, elegant costumes, and refined decorative compositions. Erté worked across multiple disciplines including fashion illustration, costume and set design, sculpture, and graphic arts, and he maintained a long association with Harper’s Bazaar, producing more than two hundred covers between 1915 and 1937. His work shaped the visual language of luxury and modernity in the interwar period, and his imagery remains closely associated with the glamour and sophistication of Art Deco.

Light toning to sheet; some fading to red ink inscription to left of figure; minor rubbing to frame. Not examined out of the frame.

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