Tamara de Lempicka Google doodle honors artist whose work focused on the Roaring ’20s

Today’s Google doodle marks the 120th birthday of the Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka.

Influenced by French artists Maurice Denis and André Lhote, de Lempicka was part of the Art Deco movement, painting tributes to the Roaring ’20s that blended late neoclassical styles from the 18th century with early 20th-century Cubist styles.

“Her affinity for the luxurious also led her to fixate on portraits of artists, stars, and aristocrats, which coupled with her considerable charm and exotic lifestyle, lit up the art world and social circles of the period,” says Google about the artist.

Doodler Matthew Cruickshank designed the doodle, which leads to a search for “Tamara de Lempicka.” Cruickshank says he was struck by the scale and skill of de Lempicka’s work when he first encountered it at a 2004 Royal Academy show in London.

His design for the doodle mirrors de Lempicka’s style, placing the artist front and center, surrounded by images from the 1920s and 1930s. Here is the full doodle:

“Few artists embodied the exuberant roaring twenties more than Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka. Her fast paced, opulent lifestyle manifests itself perfectly into the stylized Art-Deco subjects she celebrated in her paintings,” says Cruickshank. “It’s no easy feat to recreate any artist’s work — but I hope to have done so here.”