(Oct. 15, 2015) Nearly two months after the first official exhibition bowed at the Art in the Fields gallery on 9 South Main Street in Berlin, its second exhibition, featuring Erté, will open Friday.
The Russian-born French artist, also known as Romain de Tirtoff, is considered one of the progenitors of the art deco movement.
Gallery Director Kelly Lehman said the artist’s nom d’artiste, Erté, comes from the French pronunciation of his initials, “R.T.”
“His family [had] a very important name in the military, so his father didn’t approve of him becoming an artist and didn’t like his lifestyle, so early on he moved to Paris,” Lehman said.
In 1915, Erté began doing cover design work for the magazine, Harper’s Bazaar.
“Some people say that’s what really started the art deco movement,” Lehman said. “He was also pretty well-known as a fashion designer, doing dresses for famous actresses of the time, as well as jewelry.”
Lehman said the exhibition would feature more than 20 two-dimensional works by the artist. The gallery’s previous exhibition featured Andy Warhol.
“We’ll have all different sizes and all different subject matters, whereas with Warhol we had four subject matters,” she said. “It’ll be a lot different. We’ll go from pop art to art deco, so we’re going back in time a little bit.”
The foyer section of the gallery will also include works by Salvador Dali and Peter Max.
Lehman said the next exhibition, due in the end of November, would feature abstract artist Ilya Bolotowsky.
Art in the Fields is open seven days a week, from noon to 4 p.m.
For more information, email info@artinthefields.com or visit www.artinthefields.com.