+ Expand

Description: signed Bakst (lower right)

pencil, watercolor and gouache heightened with silver paint

PROVENANCE

Galleria del Levante, Munich
Sale, Sotheby's New York, Dance, Theatre, Opera and Music Hall: Costume and Decor Designs, Books, Posters and Prints, April 23, 1986, lot 27, illustrated
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale
EXHIBITED

Milan, Rome, Munich, Galleria del Levante, Mostra Commemorativa de'll Opere di Leon Bakst, 1967, no. 7
The Hague, Haags Gemeentemuseum, Ballet in Beeld bij Bakst, 1968
London, The Fine Art Society, Bakst, 1973, no. 27
London, The Fine Art Society, Bakst, 1976, no. 30
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Charles Spencer, Leon Bakst, London, 1973, p. 96, illustrated

CATALOGUE NOTE

Executed circa 1917

Bakst made some costume designs, of which this is one, for the production of the opera Sadko by Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakov, which was planned for the Théâtre National de l'Opera, Paris in 1917, but the production did not take place. This design has been previously erroneously dated circa 1911 because it was thought to have been made for the ballet Sadko-Au Royaume sous-marin, scene 6 from the opera, presented by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris on June 6, 1911. This is clearly not a ballet costume, however, and the style of the signature unmistakenly puts it at 1917 not 1911.

We would like to thank Alexander Schouvaloff for providing additional catalogue information.

+ Expand

Dimensions: 26 1/2 by 19 1/8 in.

67.3 by 48.6 cm