I believe Lempicka purposefully portrayed the figure as the ideal beauty. The manner of which she paints, with stark contrasts between the light and dark, make it seem as though there is a spotlight on the figure, where she is the main character of this story, it also forces the viewers eyes to her, as if she were performing on stage. The entirety of the piece holds qualities of soft cubism which as the name suggests is a form of cubism that doesn’t follow the principles of cubism like Picasso, which is one of Lempicka’s most recognisable features in her works. Yet this geometric form of painting gives a sort of perfection, to the figure specifically, without minute bumps, pores or marks that signify impurity. The smoothness of her skin and the dramatic yet relaxed way of posing makes her seem as though she is fed up and upset. When highlighting her beauty, it is undeniable that Lempicka emphasized this with the nudity within the painting. When looking at the ideal beauty and body shape in 1929 it consists of round, high bosom, a slim but not wasp-like waist, and gently rounded hips (quoted from goodhousekeeping.com). We can easily see this in Andromeda, emphasizing how proportionate she was, in the sense that she fits with the guidelines that defined perfection in 1929 .She is seen with a bold red lip, and a made-up face whilst her hair is neatly done in a way that screams upper class, riches and beauty, if we delve deeper to the makeup boom after WW1, women wouldn’t usually pluck their eyebrows as thinly as shown in the portrait, so it was mainly done by film stars, and so the way her makeup done gives off the impression that she is of the same level as celebrities. The way she poses is highly erotic, a way that defines every feminine quality she has; her hips and shoulders suggest intimacy, whilst her face suggests a hunger for something she doesn’t have, or even disappointment for the people around her.
The painting is named Andromeda, so naturally we must look at the story of Andromeda in Greek mythology to understand this piece. Andromeda was the beautiful daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiope of Joppa. Cassiope had offended the sea nymphs by boasting how andromeda was more beautiful than them, in revenge Poseidon sent a sea monster to Cepheus’ kingdom. Since the only sacrifice that the gods would accept was Andromeda, she was chained to a rock and left to be devoured by the monster. Whilst she wasn’t killed by the monster, since Perseus fell in love with her and slew the dragon, the painting shows how she was just left by her own family to be killed. With this story established, the details make a lot more sense, her facial expression highlights how she feels betrayed by her own family and there’s almost this confusion in her face, questioning what she’s done wrong to be punished like this, simply because of her mother’s mistake. She looks up to the rows of houses seen in the background, giving the idea that she has been abandoned by not only her family but the whole of society, as if society looked down upon her after she’s been abandoned.
With the understanding of Andromedas story, the piece makes a lot more sense and yet we are encouraged to ask why Lempicka chose Andromeda specifically, and if this had any correlation to the way women were treated at the time the painting was made. If we do correlate this painting to the inhumane and objectified outlook on women, then we can very quickly make the judgement that her lack of clothing highlights how women were purely seen as eye candy for the pleasure of men. If we parallel the story of Andromeda to the time period, we can make the link of how the beauty of a person signifies their worth, and yet as soon as they become a liability, they are thrown away, in a sense it can be interpretated to view as women as disposable, where they are not seen as humans but rather as objects that can be used and thrown away like a childhood toy that you once loved.
Ultimately, the story Lempicka tells with this painting needs to portray the epitome of beauty and perfection, hence has done so with elegance and the essential definition of beauty. The way she contains herself and maintains a calm composure despite being abandoned by her family shows how women had to behave within society, and so we can say that Lempicka portrays Andromeda in such a manner to parallel the hardships that women face in 1929 society.