At home with Tamara de Lempicka

11 Oct At home with Tamara de Lempicka

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Three houses, three artworks, one great artist: Tamara de Lempicka. The expressive power of the Polish portraitist has been captured by Mariani Affreschi in three elegant and fascinating subjects.

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Who better than Tamara de Lempicka knew how to interpret the expressive power of female sensuality in the early last century? Her women have distinctive features, with a strong-willed expression and a touch of sensuality like the famous Portrait de madame Allan Bott; they are also the common thread of a stylistic and decorative choice for three private homes owned by the same family.

Fresco inspired by the Portrait de madame Allan Bott by Tamara de Lempicka

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The owner of the home, a woman with elegant but refined taste and a strong personality, wanted to give her home a strong feminine elegance. This was achieved by introducing three large decorative panels that did not disrupt the harmonious setting and that represented what she considered to be the essence of femininity. Hence, the three famous portraits by the artist Tamara de Lempicka, chosen in admiration of the artworks created by a leading interpreter of the European Art Decò movement who portrayed strong, sensual and feminine women.
The artistic workshop of Mariani Affreschi absorbed and reviewed the works requested, reinterpreting them with different painting techniques based on the environment and setting that they would decorate.

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Art Deco and minimalism in a city residence.

The fresco’s placement in the main residence

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In the city residence, where the rooms are decorated in a minimalist style, and where a total-white style is expressed, the owner wanted a large fresco – more than two metres per side – of the Portrait de madame Allan Bott. The choice to use the fresco “strappo” technique allowed the artists to obtain soft pictorial tones, resulting in a large portrait with delicate hues, textured nuances and personalised colours to match the surrounding furnishings. Everything in the house was taken into consideration and analysed: from the colours of the floors and furniture right up to the prominent details in the carpets and furnishings.

Details and sketch of the custom-made fresco

The finished fresco in the Mariani Affreschi laboratory

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Always with a view of customising the customer’s work to make it blend with the setting, the reinterpretation also required changing the woman’s dress: the elegant lace of the original masterpiece was turned into a sensual dress made of silk.
The resulting stylistic choice matches beautifully with the décor of the home.
The fresco technique also made it possible to tone down the presence of the figure in the room. With other painting techniques, a subject this strong and large would have seemed too overbearing in a normal-sized living space. The optical perception instead is subtle, and the large dimensions do not forcibly overpower the space that accommodates it.

A dreamy and delicate fresco for a mountain setting.

Fresco reproduction of the “Saint Moritz” painting by Tamara de Lempicka

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Setting of the fresco in the mountain home

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The subject chosen for a mountain home located in Madonna di Campiglio was Saint Moritz – 1929, a portrait of a dreamy woman, soft and warm, that blends beautifully with the soft and honeyed tones of the wood furnishings. Once again, the fresco “strappo” technique allowed transforming the aggressive tones of red into more celestial colours.

The strength of acrylic for a beach environment.

Portrait in Acrylic – Mariani Affreschi

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The third work created by our artists was for a beach home, and involved the use of the acrylic technique. The customer and the company that oversaw the design for all three homes (Studio Alessandro Magli – Orzinuovi) wanted a strong and important decorative panel with almost glass-like effects and tones. The Mariani Affreschi artists, who are skilled in all the art techniques, for this case decided to use acrylic, with the addition of paint to make the portrait brighter and more penetrating.

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With these three different interpretations of Tamara de Lempicka’s artworks, we aimed at bringing you closer to the world of wall decorations and our painting techniques.
Because every home, whether large or small, modern or classic, can be made unique and special with a Mariani Affreschi painting.

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WATCH THE VIDEO ON THE MAKING OF A FRESCO

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Photo gallery of the steps to making a Mariani fresco (Portrait de madame Allan Bott – Tamara de Lempicka)

Executing the fresco on fresh plaster

Preparation of canvas

Sticking the first canvas on the fresco

Stripping the fresco from the wall (1)

Stripping the fresco from the wall (2)

The retrieval phase of the fresco