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Russian female dancer costume for "La Fée des Poupées"

Léon Bakst Russian, born present day Belarus
1903
Not on view
Drawing of a Russian female dancer costume for 'La Fée des Poupées' created with graphite on tracing paper by Léon Bakst in 1903, consisting of a short dress with a low, straight neckline, long, puffy sleeves, and wide skir, long hair, forming a braid to one side, and a thin cane, held on one hand. The ballet, part of the repertoire of the Russian Imperial Theaters under the direction of Teliakovsky, featured a choreography by Nikolai and Serge Legat, and designs by Bakst. Although the ballet was not a great success, it became one of Bakst's early masterpieces: the elegance and humor with which he responded to the toyshop theme, adapting the setting from 1870s Vienna to contemporary St. Petersburg, earned him a commission for a portrait of Madame Gritzenko and twelve colored portraits with his illustrations. This early success also foreshadowed the greater successes that were to come his way with his sensuous and colorful designs for the Ballets Russes in Paris during the teens.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Russian female dancer costume for "La Fée des Poupées"
  • Artist: Léon Bakst (Russian (born present day Belarus), Hrodna (Grodno) 1866–1924 Paris)
  • Date: 1903
  • Medium: Graphite on tracing paper; squared
  • Dimensions: sheet: 14 3/16 x 10 11/16 in. (36.1 x 27.1 cm)
  • Classifications: Drawings, Ornament & Architecture
  • Credit Line: Gift of Nikita D. Lobanov, 1966
  • Object Number: 66.753.4
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Costume Design for a Courtier, likely for the Ballet 'La Belle au Bois Dormant' (Sleeping Beauty), premiered at the Alhambra Theatre in London, 1921, Léon Bakst Russian, born present day Belarus, Watercolor, graphite, gold paint
Costume Design for a Courtier, likely for the Ballet 'La Belle au Bois Dormant' (Sleeping Beauty), premiered at the Alhambra Theatre in London, 1921
Léon Bakst
ca. 1921
Costume Design for a Valet, likely for the Ballet 'Les Papillons', premiered at the Théâtre de Monte-Carlo, 1914, Léon Bakst Russian, born present day Belarus, Gouache and graphite
Costume Design for a Valet, likely for the Ballet 'Les Papillons', premiered at the Théâtre de Monte-Carlo, 1914
Léon Bakst
ca. 1914
Landscape, possibly a detail of the Set Design for the Ballet 'Narcisse', premiered at the Théâtre de Monte Carlo, 1911, Léon Bakst Russian, born present day Belarus, Gouache and graphite
Landscape, possibly a detail of the Set Design for the Ballet 'Narcisse', premiered at the Théâtre de Monte Carlo, 1911
Léon Bakst
[1911]
Design for the Set of the Ballet 'Narcisse', premiered at the Théâtre de Monte Carlo, 1911, Léon Bakst Russian, born present day Belarus, Watercolor, gouache, and charcoal
Design for the Set of the Ballet 'Narcisse', premiered at the Théâtre de Monte Carlo, 1911
Léon Bakst
1911
Costume Design for a Eunuch in Scheherazade, Léon Bakst Russian, born present day Belarus, Gouache and graphite, heightened with gold paint
Costume Design for a Eunuch in Scheherazade
Léon Bakst
1912

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