Artist Database

Romain de Tirtoff, known by the pseudonym Erté, was a Russian-born French artist and designer who made significant contributions to fashion, theatre, and art in the early twentieth century. He was born in St. Petersburg in 1892, the only son of an admiral in the Imperial Fleet, and was raised amidst Russia's social elite.

In 1912, at the age of nineteen, he left St. Petersburg for Paris with the aim of becoming an artist. He found work later that year as a draughtsman at the fashion house Caroline. At the end of his first month there, the owners informed him he had no talent and should abandon his ambitions. In response, Erté sent his sketches and designs to Paul Poiret, then the most prominent figure in fashion, who offered him a position immediately.

Through the early twentieth century, Erté maintained various creative partnerships, illustrating for Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. From 1915, he requested that his original drawings be returned to him after use in printing; where this was not possible, he would order copies for his own collection. By his own estimate, he produced more than 17,000 works over the course of his career.

At the age of seventy-five, Erté was encouraged to begin a new phase in his career, recreating the designs of his youth in bronze and serigraphy.