Things I Remember: An Autobiography [Hardcover]

Erte (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 081290575X | ISBN-13: 978-0812905755 | Publication Date: 1975 | Edition: First Edition

In this autobiography Erte looks back over the years and, with his characteristic eye for significant and amusing detail, he describes the personae and events that have filled his life. He recalls his childhood in Russia, his years in Monte Carlo during World War I, and his life in Paris and Hollywood. The procession of well-known characters is vividly described - from Isadora Duncun to Barbra Streisand, from Louis B Mayer to Roland Petit.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

It is rare that an artist who has become a legend in his lifetime, and who has left the imprint of his style on an entire epoch, should be as full of invention and enthusiasm in his eighties as he was in his twenties and thirties. This is the case with Erte, the celebrated fashion artist and stage designer once at the heart of the Art Deco movement. He has now written the story of his long and fascinating life.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

So there I was on the train bound for Paris. I was nineteen and leaving St. Petersburg for a new life. At that moment in January of 1912, the future seemed like a gaily-colored rainbow, bright with hope, despite the fact that it was twenty-eight degrees below zero. I remember my mother saying that the freezing temperature reminded her of the day I was born. The whole family had assembled on the platform at least twenty people: my patents, my sister, aunts, cousins - all of my closest relatives, male and female. Those final moments had filled me with mixed emotions - joy over the fulfillment of a dream I had cherished since my first visit to Paris at the age of seven, and sadness at leaving my adored parents, who had done everything in their power to make my happy. Now, all family squabbling over, my departure was finally at hand, Aunt Ania, a charming old maiden lady who was my father's cousin, cried out as the train started to move, "L'Aiglon has spread his wings and begun to fly."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Quadrangle / New York Times Book Co; First Edition edition (1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081290575X
• ISBN-13: 978-0812905755
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,257,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A glimpse, November 3, 2009

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tamiii "tamiii" (San Juan Capistrano, Ca. United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Things I Remember: An Autobiography (Hardcover)

Erte was a private man. Russian by birth but transplanted to Paris, he rose to prominence designing sets and costumes for operas and ballets, all the while submitting his designs for the cover of Harper's. Long, slender women graced the center of most of his works establishing a feminine style which became immensely popular in cinema and stage, changing among many other things the popular image of what a ballerina should look like--tight, thin, with a pin head. In Erte's case, this female figure was often topped with sweeping, feathered headresses.

From a young age, he knew his sexuality to which he alludes in brief but pointed ways. The death of his beloved, Nicolas, receives a scant paragraph though there is an amusing photograph of the two of them, Erte gazing at his beloved unmistakably aroused. Erte delights to recount his dressing as a woman to the opera in the company of several men--her appearance receiving appreciative mention in a paper reviewing the opera. Apparently, he looked good in the styles he designed! However, the majority of the text concerns his many projects and his quiet, private way of working. Not surprisingly, he found cats agreeable.