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From 15 September 2004 BA-CA Kunstforum is to mount the first complete exhibition of work by the Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka. She is best known for her pictures epitomising the flair and lifestyle of Art Deco: her Self-portrait in a green Bugatti stands as a symbol for the period, but Lempicka’s exceptional artistic qualities have remained largely unappreciated.

The BA-CA Kunstforum show includes around 60 major works from museums and private collections in Europe and the USA and brings to Vienna the glamorous flair of the 1920s and 30s.

With their combination of sultry sensuality and cool classicism, Lempicka’s pictures reveal a totally new dimension to the history of painting in the 1920s and 30s. Nowhere else are aspects of New Realism given such sensual and erotic interpretation as in the figure paintings of Tamara de Lempicka. Lempicka is the femme fatale of the inter-war years. As a painter, her portraits reflect her social surroundings, something that today again gives her work relevance.

Today’s art world is experiencing renewed interest in the figurative and realistic painting of the 20th century. The younger generation has rediscovered artists who, turning their backs on the official avant-gardes, developed independently and made their own way. Artists such as Frida Kahlo, Edward Hopper, Francis Picabia and Tamara de Lempicka have acquired new importance and relevancy in postmodern art history as well as for collectors.