Controversial, definitely. Free, without a doubt. Undoubtedly a legend. Tamara de Lempicka, the beautiful Pole, the star of the interwar period, had everything it took to mark her era.

The elite of society were those who frequented the 'Ritz' in Paris or the 'Grand Hotel' in Monte Carlo at that time; in other words, what we would call jet-set today. Relatively recently, in 1978, the New York Times referred to her as 'the goddess of the automobile age with the steely gaze.'

Indeed, her most famous work, the Self-Portrait (Tamara in the Green Bugatti), reveals something of her relationship with machines, whether they were made of steel or... flesh and bones.