The late art deco icon Tamara de Lempicka’s life has long been shrouded in mystery. When describing her — a Polish, Jewish, bisexual, self-made and sought-after painter — one of her quotes comes to mind: “I live on the fringe of society, and rules of normal society have no currency for those who live on the fringe.”
Recent recognitions of her works, including a traveling exhibition (which will be hosted at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston from March 9 through May 26), have reintroduced her creative genius and reached the American zeitgeist. Additionally, a documentary about her life, “The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & The Art of Survival,” has been making its rounds in the film festival circuit since its premiere at the 2024 Mill Valley Film Festival.
Julie Rubio, who also serves as the president of Women in Film San Francisco Bay Area, directed, produced and wrote the film. For many years, she worked closely with Lempicka’s family to illuminate the artist’s story, who, in the face of the Third Reich, lost everything and rebuilt herself multiple times.
“What was surprising to me was the depth of her strategic thinking,” Rubio told The Sopris Sun. “She wasn’t just creating her art, she was creating a brand and a legacy at a time when women were often overlooked, especially in the arts.”
Marisa de Lempicka, the artist’s great-granddaughter, said that the film strives to reach the core of who her great-grandmother was — who she called “Cherie.”
“She painted until the day she died. Her most famous paintings were from the ‘20s and ‘30s, but she did paint until the end,” Marisa shared. “One day she told me, ‘Marisa, when we had to flee from St. Petersburg, we had to leave everything and start all over in Paris. So I decided I was going to become the most sought after portrait painter in Paris and eventually the world.’”
Marisa said her Cherie shared with her that after selling a painting she would buy herself a diamond bracelet — many of which she was adorned with, from wrist to elbow, as she spoke with her great-granddaughter. She didn’t don her bracelets simply as a fashion statement, but as insurance in case she ever had to flee and leave everything behind again.
Actress Barbra Streisand provided Rubio’s team with high-resolution images of her collection of Tamara’s work. Anjelica Huston, who portrayed Tamara in the off-broadway production of John Krizanc’s “Tamara,” lent her voice as the film’s narrator.
The idea for the documentary came over 20 years ago, after Rubio debuted a short film about famous impressionist painters and was invited to The Weinstein Gallery in San Francisco, where Lempicka’s family would be.
“Once I met her family, they instantly started telling me stories,” Rubio recalled. “I set out on a journey. With their approval, I started writing this narrative and began to dive deep into her and her work. I was gathering insight from what the history said and information the family was giving me — which they were finding in their garages. I started to realize this was an important story.”
The film will be on the big screen of the Aspen Film Isis Theatre on March 4 as a result of a collaboration between the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen Film and Marisa.
“The film has been selling out everywhere it goes and I am hoping that the theater is going to be full,” stated Marisa.
Rubio said her film serves messages which hold relevance to the lived experiences of marginalized people — namely women, immigrants and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“It’s a roadmap to surviving horrific things that happen to all of us, and how to make it through, how to thrive and to enjoy life and find the beauty in your pain,” she stated. “When you watch it you realize history is repeating itself again in so many ways and that we need to get to a place where we stop trying to just tolerate one another, but to accept and love each other as a society. I think that’s important.”
For more information on the film. visit www.tamaradoc.com/home
IN A NUTSHELL:
What: Tamara de Lempicka film
Where: AF Isis Theatre
When: March 4 at 5pm
Tickets: www.aspenartmuseum.org