| Image Upright: | 1.00 |
| Adam and Eve | |
| Artist: | Tamara de Lempicka |
| Year: | 1932 |
| Medium: | Oil on panel |
| Height Metric: | 116 |
| Width Metric: | 73 |
| Metric Unit: | cm |
| Imperial Unit: | in |
| Museum: | Private collection |
Adam and Eve is a 1932 oil-on-panel painting by the Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka. It is in the Art Deco style and depicts a male nude embracing a female nude who holds an apple. In the background are stylized skyscrapers. The painting is, and is housed in a private collection.
Lempicka was fond of repeating stories about the creation of Adam and Eve. The inspiration for this painting arose when a professional female model took a break to eat an apple. Lempicka asked her to hold the pose and started to sketch. She then invited a policeman who was making his rounds in the streets to pose for Adam.[1] Lempicka contrasts the natural beauty of human bodies beauty with a barren, industrious cityscape.[2]
The painting previously belonged to Barbra Streisand, acquired around 1986 for $135,000. On March 3, 1996, Christie's held a dedicated sale of Streisand's collection, including Adam and Eve, which sold for $1,982,500, at the time, setting a record price for the artist at auction. Streisand told The New York Times: "We screamed when the Lempicka price went over $1 million ... I was working out with my exercise teacher and when the bidding went over the top I screamed."[3]
The work is currently in a private collection.
In December 1993, Architectural Digest featured Barbra Streisand's Art-Deco-inspired Malibu home; the front cover of the issue included an image of Streisand and Adam and Eve.[4]
In 1996, the movie First Wives Club included Adam and Eve. In the film, the painting belongs to Elise Eliot-Atchison, played by Goldie Hawn.