Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980)

Executed in 1966, L’heure Bleue III presents one of the most favoured themes in the work of Tamara de Lempicka, which was first explored by the artist in 1931 (Blondel, B. 152). Ellen Thormann identified the source of that first painting in the work Frau mit Schiffen (1925), by the Viennese artist Karl Sterrer. Lempicka, however, made the composition her own, returning to the theme four times, from 1957 to 1975 (Blondel, B.509, B.510, B.511, B.512).

The series to which L’heure Bleue III belongs suggests that the subject held particular importance for Lempicka. Compared with the 1931 work of the same title, L’heure Bleue III presents an even more sculptural female figure, fixed in the marmoreal sharpness of its form and juxtaposed with the geometrical pattern of the sailing boats in the background.

Lempicka herself presented L’heure Bleue III to her friend, the Contesse Réginald de Warren, in whose collection the painting has since remained.