#ArtDept: The Harper’s Bazaar Covers of Erté, Drag Queens Alert!

Courtesy of Martin Lawrence Gallery

The name Erté is the French pronunciation of the initials “R.T.”, which stood for Romain de Tirtoff (1892-1990). He was a Russian-born graphic artist and designer of jewelry, costumes, interiors, and sets for opera, film and the stage. Oh, and did I mention textiles, handbags, watches and perfume bottles.

The name Erté and the term Art Deco eventually became synonymous. His 240+ covers for Harper’s Bazaar magazine which often depicted women draped in furs and jewelry remain highly collectable.

He took the pseudonym Erté while working as a fashion designer/illustrator in Paris, so as not to disgrace his aristocratic Russian family, which had expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps as a military officer. His talent showed itself when he was just a tot; his mother had a dress made from one of Erté’s designs he had sketched at five-years-old.

When he was 21-years-old, he showed up at a 1914 Parisian gala wearing a silver lamé suit that had pearl wings and a black feathered cape that he had designed himself.

In 1925, MGM studios brought Erté and his partner, Russian Prince Nicolas Ouroussoff, from Paris to Hollywood, picking up the considerable expenses for both. When their ocean liner arrived in NYC, they disembarked with 15 steamer trunks and three assistants. Erté’s black, white and gray Parisian atelier was reproduced on the MGM lot. He was treated like the star that he was, with in a home in the Hollywood Hills, a chauffeured limousine, and two bi-lingual secretaries. He was interviewed by the press 200 times.

MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer, noted for not liking queers, even invited the couple to his house for dinner. Mayer was rather enamored of Erté and expressed regret when Erté asked to be let out of his contract after designing costumes for just six MGM films. Erté and Ouroussoff were together for 20 years, until the Prince’s premature death in 1933.

1925, Carmel Meyers in “Ben Hur”, MGM Archives

In the 1920s, gay people working in film studio wardrobe, makeup and set departments enjoyed an extraordinary freedom and tolerance, an environment found virtually nowhere else in America. They were not just tolerated, being gay actually carried some cachet.

Erté continued working throughout his long life. He designed sets and costumes for revues, ballets, and operas. He had a major resurgence of his career during the 1960s when all things Art Deco enjoyed a revival. He became even more wealthy selling limited edition prints, bronzes, and wearable art.

In 1988, Erté designed seven limited edition bottles of Courvoisier to show the different stages of the cognac-making process. In 2008, one of his Courvoisier bottles, containing Grande Champagne cognac from 1892, was sold at auction for $10,000.

Erté’s work can be found in the world’s great museums, including the Victoria And Albert Museum, the Metropolitan Museum Of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art (LACMA), Museum Of Modern Art (MOMA), the Smithsonian Institution and Museum 1999 in Tokyo.