Autoportrait (Tamara in a Green Bugatti, section)

A woman grips the steering wheel of her green Bugatti, glancing sideways with cool detachment. Her leather gloves, silvery scarf, and helmet-like cap all speak of speed and independence. This is Tamara de Lempicka's self-portrait, painted in 1929 for the cover of a German fashion magazine. She never actually owned a Bugatti, but the image she created here became one of the defining faces of the Art Deco age.

De Lempicka painted in a style that mixed the sleek geometry of Art Deco with the polished modeling of old master portraits. The result is a woman who looks carved from metal, as smooth and hard as the car she drives. She fled Russia after the revolution and rebuilt her life in Paris, where she became famous for portraits of wealthy patrons and for a lifestyle just as bold as her paintings. This image sums up what she wanted the world to see: a modern woman fully in control, going wherever she pleased.