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For many artists and writers,\nelegance was often connected with the figure of the smoker. The cigarette\nbecame more than an object. It became a visual gesture \u2014 a symbol of\ncontemplation, independence, creativity and a certain refined distance from the\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oscar Wilde captured this idea\nperfectly through Lord Henry in The Picture of Dorian Gray:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA cigarette is the perfect\ntype of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For Wilde\u2019s dandy, the cigarette\nrepresented a philosophy of life: controlled pleasure, aesthetic sensitivity\nand the search for refined experiences. Similar images appeared throughout\nliterature \u2014 in the elegant world of F. Scott Fitzgerald, where cigarette smoke\nfilled the atmosphere of Jazz Age parties, in Hemingway\u2019s quiet moments of\nsolitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But long before cinema created\nthe iconic image of the elegant smoker, painters were already fascinated by\nthis gesture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the nineteenth century, when\nartists began turning their attention toward modern life, smoking became part\nof the visual culture of caf\u00e9s, salons and intellectual circles. \u00c9douard Manet\nportrayed a new generation of people who were confident, independent and\nconnected with the rhythm of the modern city. In his world, elegance was not\nabout perfection or aristocratic distance. It was about presence \u2014 the ability\nof a person to occupy a moment with confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vincent van Gogh approached the cigarette from a completely different perspective. In Skull with Burning Cigarette, a simple object became a reflection on life, irony and human existence. For Van Gogh, the cigarette was not a symbol of luxury, but a powerful artistic sign. A small flame, a thin line of smoke, a simple gesture \u2014 all could carry a deeper emotional meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the artistic circles of the\nearly twentieth century, smoking also became connected with creativity and\nintellectual freedom. Photographs and portraits of artists such as Pablo\nPicasso often showed the cigarette as part of the atmosphere of studios, conversations\nand creative rebellion. It became associated with the image of the artist\nhimself \u2014 someone who observed the world differently and created his own rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Art Deco era transformed\nthis image once again. In the 1920s and 1930s, elegance became a complete\nvisual language. Architecture, fashion, jewellery, automobiles and personal\nobjects were united by a desire for sophistication and modernity. The cigarette\nnaturally became part of this aesthetic universe \u2014 a detail that belonged to a\nworld of evening lights, elegant clothing, expensive cars and carefully\ndesigned objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, Edward Hopper brought\nthis tradition into a quieter and more mysterious dimension. His paintings\nreplaced glamour with atmosphere. Empty streets, reflections on glass,\nartificial light and solitary figures created a feeling that would later become\none of the foundations of film noir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, artists continue this\nsearch for elegance. The language changes, but the desire remains the same: to\ncapture the moment when a person becomes more than a person \u2014 when style,\nenvironment and emotion create a complete image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Angelica Tim, an art historian\nand artist based in Saint Petersburg, continues this exploration in her own\nwork. She studies masterpieces of world art and searches for the different\nforms that elegance has taken throughout history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAncient art created the\nfoundation of elegance,\u201d Angelica says. \u201cIt gave us proportion, harmony and\nbalance. But elegance does not belong to only one period. Every era discovers\nits own expression of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, Angelica is preparing a\nseries of paintings inspired by the streets of Saint Petersburg. The city\nitself becomes part of her artistic vision: the river fog, historic facades,\nevening lights and people moving through the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLuxury and elegance are always\nconnected,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt is not only one expensive object. It is the way\neverything comes together \u2014 the place, the light, the materials, the movement\nof a person. These details create an impression of elegance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Angelica, the Cigaronne cigarettes become one of these details. Its refined design, elongated silhouette and sophisticated appearance help her create the artistic image she is searching for. \u201cSometimes a small object can complete the whole composition,\u201d she says. \u201cIt can add character to a person and help me express a certain feeling of elegance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor me, a person who smokes has a certain rhythm and presence. It creates a pause. It creates a moment when you can see the character of the person. I choose Cigaronne cigarettes because they fit the visual language I am searching for. Their sophisticated style, elongated profile and hollow filter-mouthpiece create a distinctive image.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor an artist, details are\neverything. A small object can complete the whole composition. It can reveal\nsomething about a person and help create the atmosphere of elegance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also notices how the models\nreact to the design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter posing, some models tell\nme that because of the special construction, their hands retain far less\ntobacco smell. For them this is important. For me, it is also part of elegance.\nElegance is not only how something looks. It is how it behaves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Angelica\u2019s Saint Petersburg\nseries continues a tradition that began centuries ago: the search for beauty\nnot only in what we see, but in what we feel. From Renaissance harmony to noir\nshadows, elegance has always lived in the same place \u2014 in the details that\ntransform an ordinary moment into art.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since the beginning of art, artists have been searching for something beyond beauty. They have been trying to capture the invisible quality that makes a person unforgettable. This quality has many names: grace, refinement, character, presence. But perhaps the most universal word for it is elegance. Throughout centuries, painters searched for their own language of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":64983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64979"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65013,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64979\/revisions\/65013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Picture1.jpg.jpeg\")