Romain de Tirtoff, later known as Erté, was born in Russia in 1892. He studied at the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. He moved to Paris, France in 1912, and found work as a costume designer and a fashion illustrator.

The art of Erté is or has been exhibited in museums and galleries including but not necessarily limited to the following:
Addicted Gallery, Singapore
Alessandro Berni Gallery, New York City, NY
American Fine Art, Scottsdale, AZ
Andrei Art Gallery, Stroudsburg, PA
Andrew Weiss Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
Doubletake Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Fine Arts Museums, San Francisco, CA
Gallery Art, Aventura, FL
Gilden’s Art Gallery, London, England
Graphiques Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
Grosvenor Gallery, London, England
Herndon Fine Art, Monument, CO
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Luxury Fine Art, Pompano Beach, FL
M. S. Rau Fine Art, New Orleans, LA
Martin Lawrence Galleries in Costa Mesa, CA; La Jolla, CA; Newport Beach, CA; San Francisco, CA; Lahaina, HI; Schaumburg, IL; New Orleans, LA; Las Vegas, NV; New York City, NY; and Dallas, TX
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY
Miami Fine Art, Miami, FL
North Beach Art Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Oklahoma Museum of Art, Nichols Hills, OK
Paragon Fine Art, Great Neck, NY
Park West Gallery, Southfield, MI
Renjeau Galleries, Natick, MA
Ro Gallery, Long Island City, NY
San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
Tate Gallery, London, England
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
Wentworth Gallery, Boca Raton, FL