Roman Petrovich Tyrtov (pseudonym Erte, French Erté; November, 23 (4, December) 1892, St. Petersburg – April, 21, 1990, Paris) – a painter, graphic artist, scene-designer, fashion designer of Art Deco era of Russian origin, who worked in Paris and Hollywood. Erte is a pseudonym made up of the initials R.T.

"Frankly speaking, I was more interested in drawing than in any other things from early childhood. I remember, back in the age of five I got involved in the creation of women's suits - recalled Erte, whose imagination was captivated by heroines of Persian and Indian miniatures, which he examined in the family library.– I drew my first model - it was a sketch of an evening dress for my mother that she gave to her dressmaker, and the dress was a great success. But I wanted to learn painting seriously. After working for some time in the genre of landscape painting, I had the honor to become an apprentice of the famous Russian artist Ivan Repin, who worked with me on portraits for three years. At the same time, I did not forget about the women's costume, that relentlessly woke up my inspiration. When I was fifteen years old, I sent sketches of dresses to the St. Petersburg magazine "Ladies' World", and they have appeared in almost every issue. The first success at home didn’t blindfold me at all. I always remembered the words of Goethe, that "real talent is nine-tenths of the work, and only one tenth accounts for the genius." I was eager to learn more and was ready to work endlessly in order to succeed in the art. Like many young artists, I wanted to continue my education abroad. "

Erte left St. Petersburg being only 19 years old, arrived in Paris in 1912, becoming a correspondent of the St. Petersburg magazine "Women's Fashion". He attended the painting class of famous Academy Julian.

In 1914, two Magazine - Vogue and Harper's Bazaar - offered him work as an illustrator, and he naively threw "eagle or tails." The coin has decided in favor of Harper's Bazaar, that brought Erte worldwide fame. In January 1915, he published his first cover of this magazine, and from that time until 1936 he constantly made for this edition drawings of models and many color covers.

At the same time as a fashion designer, he collaborated with the «Vogue», «Cosmopolitan», «Women's Home Journal». Very soon Erte became really famous. Any elegant woman interested in fashion on both sides of the Atlantic knew him and unconditionally trusted his taste.

New time dictated its own tastes and fashions, and "Erte style" gradually disappeared from real life. But he never died on the stage. His first theatrical costumes were created in 1914 for the "Revue de Saint-Cyr." Then he drew costumes for Mata Hari, for the play "Minaret" in the Parisian theater "Renaissance". Living in Monte-Carlo and being at a party at Princess Tenisheva Erte met Sergei Diaghilev, who invited the young, but well-known artist to make costumes for the ballet "Sleeping Beauty".

Here is what Erte said on this occasion: "In 1922, I gladly accepted the offer to cooperate from Diaghilev. I immediately drew two sketches, and the next day received a telegram from the impresario of the Schubert brothers from America with the offer of a lucrative contract. Not knowing what to do in such a situation, I immediately went to Diaghilev, and he told me: "Never refuse from money. I never refuse ". Erte made several costumes for the great Anna Pavlova, in particular for her famous ballet performances "Gavotte", "Divertimento", "Seasons." He made the costumes and engaged in set design at the Paris Grand Opera, the New York Metropolitan Opera and the London Opera House, and at one time was an artist of Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he worked on several films, including the famous "Ben Hur "(1925).

As a fashion designer he developed clothes designs and patterns for fabrics; among the proposed by him (back in 1920) costume reforms the principle of "unisex" later won special popularity. In 1967, the Metropolitan Museum bought in a New York gallery 170 of his works. As Erte said: "It was an unprecedented case - to buy a full exposition of the artist still alive.” Furthermore, next year the Metropolitan arranged a display, which included a hundred of the purchased works. While at the Museum there was a rule prohibiting to hold solo exhibitions of artists still alive, so the exhibition was called "Erte and Contemporaries", having included works of Bakst, Goncharova, Dufy and other masters in it. "

In the 1960s the artist turned to a new art form for him - sculpture. Characters of his early drawings of 1920-30s are as though alive and frozen in dance movement by moving in three-dimensional space. Seductive silhouettes of Amazons, odalisques, graceful nymphs and opium smokers in a series of "Visual forms" have retained their original dimensions and proportions. "Everything I did in art is a game of imagination. And I have always had one ideal, one model - the movement of the dance".

The heroine of Erte works is an ethereal and unreal image. She may be a native of fairy tales, myths and dreams, or perhaps flutters on stage. She is incredibly thin. She is characterized by subtle sensitivity and sexual attractiveness. It can be an Assyrian princess, exotic bird or flower fairy.

"My works are not related to the realism at all, they are the embodiment of my dreams" - Erte said.