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In her book of recollections "Passion by Design", Tamara de Lempicka's daughter 'Kizette' describes, in great detail, the unexpected interview her mother granted one of the gallery owners in 1967. Her text makes clear the extent to which Lempicka herself had broken away from the works she produced in the twenties and thirties. At the time of this first encounter, her painting activity had slowed down. The style of painting she had since adopted, using a knife to underscore the materiality of her works, was a far cry from the sharply defined and glossy technique of her Art Deco period. It came as a surprise to her to be questioned on that period by the young art dealers. Although happy to leave several of her works with them, she was far more reticent about the idea of an exhibition, which nevertheless was immediately set up. Six years before, she herself had organized a sort of retrospective assembling the various periods of her oeuvre. That "rive droite" (fashionable right bank of the Seine) gallery experience had been a total and most humiliating flop, inspiring the decision to refuse all further exhibition proposals.
The new gallery's proposal was different, however, since it was to focus exclusively on works done between 1925 and 1935. Lempicka remained dubious as to the successful outcome of such an exhibition, resigned as she was to the idea that those works were, by then, permanently outdated. In any case, this was the attitude she gleaned from her circle of friends, and with due consideration to how painting in general was evolving. Although it took three years, in the end she allowed herself be convinced.
What sort of gallery was making the proposal? A name she had never heard of. Nothing surprising about that, since it had just been created. First set up on the left bank, near the Luxemburg Palace - under the name "Galerie du Luxembourg" - it soon (1971) ended up on the right bank, in the midst of the colorful "Halles de Paris" district (the market stall area just recently liberated by the food wholesalers). The impact of this gallery on the Parisian art scene brings to mind that of New York's Soho district as the new center for the latest galleries. However, just as in Soho, the surroundings were far from the commercial venues customarily associated with the art market. To attend an opening ceremony at the Galerie de Luxembourg in 1971 was indeed a novel experience for art lovers. The familiar landmarks that could be found inside the gallery were visible by their absence on the outside. On the way there, visitors were obliged to pass by some very appealing young women perched on high heels and decked out in black leather and clinging vinyl coats.
Lempicka, of course, could not have cared less about all this. Opening night found her welcoming her friends in great style, as if she had invited them to 57th Street, New York. What might have constituted a handicap turned out not to be one at all. On the contrary, the unaccustomed aspect of the neighborhood, the vivid contrast between the society portraits on the gallery walls and the usual "Halles de Paris" crowd beyond the gallery door, provided a surprising mixture that intrigued and amused the gallery visitors, gave the city much to talk about, and, finally, transformed the adventure into a huge success. Indeed, the American press devoted several pages to it. Any bets placed on the "rediscovery" of this artist's oeuvre were on their way to being won.
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