Exhibited for the first time at the Salon d'Automne: her first portrait of Ira Perrot, with whom she had embarked on a relationship that was to last several years. De Lempicka set up house in an apartment in the Place Wagram where her attentive cousin, Constantin Stiffer, photographed her recent paintings.

Until 1939, Ira Perrot and Lempicka were close friends. Besides sitting for her 1930 portrait ("Portrait of Ira Perrot" [B.143]), most probably Perrot was also the model for "Woman in the Black Dress" (B.31) and "Her Sadness" (B.30). The latter work is listed in Kizette de Lempicka-Foxhall's book as "Portrait of Mrs. P."

Tamara Gorska-Lempitzky arrived in Paris in 1918 in difficult circumstances: she was only twenty, her husband had no position, and she was the mother of a very young little girl. On the other hand, she had lost none of her remarkable energy. Deciding to continue the studies she had interrupted in St. Petersburg, she signed up for Maurice Denis's course at the Académie Ranson, and that of André Lhote at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. The influence of both teachers made itself felt; for instance, in the wavy lines of "Mother and Child" (B.12) in the fashion of Denis, and in the triangular facets used to build up the face of "The Chinese Man" (B.1), borrowed from Lhote. At this early point of her artistic career, Lempicka had a taste for expressivity, which made her seek out models whose body and face showed deep marks left by life. Increasingly, she took to painting themes beyond the academy studio's range, and to adding props that provide clues as to the sitter's psychological attitude or social status (cf. especially "The Fortune-Teller" [B.6], "The Polo Player" [B.8], or "Redheaded Woman Reading " [B.11]).