Erte (1892-1990) Russian/French, Limited Edition Firebird Bronze Sculpture. This mythical figural composition features a winged female with an elongated, curvilinear form, standing on bird-like clawed feet that merge into a swirling flame-shaped element. Elevated atop a tiered, stepped octagonal base, the sculpture bears an impressed publisher's mark for RKP International Corp, the Tallix Foundry mark, and the date 1980, along with the edition number 125/250. Erte's signature is impressed into the top of the bottom-tier base, near the foundry mark. 

Size: 8 x 5 1/2 x 16 in. 

#9028 . 

Romain de Tirtoff, known by the pseudonym Erté (from the French pronunciation of his initials), was born Roman Petrovich Tyrtov on November 23rd, 1892 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His father served as an admiral in the Russian fleet, and his mother was Ukrainian. An early passion for theater and dance morphed into a life-long obsession with painting and design. In his early teens he traveled to Paris to study sculpture, becoming enamored with Art Nouveau and eventually relocating to the city permanently in 1912, living with Prince Nicolas Oroussoff. Between 1915 and 1937 he shifted to using his mononym and designed over 200 covers for Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue magazines. His elegant fashion designs also shifted into a focus on Art Deco, capturing the imaginations of impresarios Louis B. Mayer and Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. His place in the evolution of 20th Century art, in everything from fashion to graphic arts to set design for film, theater, and interior decor, is unrivaled and indisputable. In the decade before his death he branched out into the realm of  prints, bronzes, and wearable art, including seven limited edition bottle designs for Courvoisier showing the different stages of cognac-making. He passed away April 21st, 1990.