Nina Lobanov-Rostovsky was born in Paris in 1937. She had a French father and a Russian mother. As her father was a diplomat she grew up and was educated all over the world. Nina was the protocol officer at the UNO for the fifteen African Countries when they became members in 1960. After that she spent nineteen years as a research editor at the Reader’s Digest in Paris and then New York, working inter alia with Sir Kenneth Clark on The Romantic Rebellion, Romantic Versus Classical Art. She thought up and was the packaging editor for The Royal Interiors of Regency England (London, 1984) and is the author of Revolutionary Ceramics, Soviet Porcelain 1917-1927 (London, 1990). Her reviews have appeared in Apollo, The Art Newspaper, The Moscow Times, The East-West Review, and the Slavic and East European Journal. More recently she was an external consultant for the exhibition Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909-1929, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Nina who was married to her fellow collector Nikita for thirtynine years, lives in London and is a free-lance writer, editor and lecturer. She is a consultant to Christie’s and Sotheby’s on the Russian decorative arts and also lectures on tours in Russia.
ENCYCLOPEDIA of RUSSIAN STAGE DESIGN
1880-1930
John E. Bowlt is a professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where he is also director of the Institute of Modern Russian Culture. He has written extensively on Russian visual culture, especially on the art of Symbolism and the avant-garde, his latest book being Moscow, St. Petersburg. Art and Culture during the Russian Silver Age (New York, 2008). Dr. Bowlt has also curated or co-curated exhibitions of Russian art, including “Theater of Reason / Theater of Desire: the Art of Alexandre Benois and Léon Bakst” at the Fondazione Thyssen Bornemisza, Lugano (1999), “Amazons of the Avant-Garde” at the Guggenheim Museums in Berlin, Venice, Moscow, and New York (1999-2001), “A Feast of Wonders. Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes” at the Nouveau Musée de Monte Carlo, Monaco, and the State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow (2009-10); and “El Cosmos de la vanguardia rusa” at the Fundación Marcelino Botin, Santander, and the State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki (2010-11). In September, 2010, he received the Order of Friendship from the Russian Federation for his promotion of Russian culture in the USA.
ENCYCLOPEDIA of RUSSIAN STAGE DESIGN 1880-1930
VOLUME II Why collect Russian stage designs? Why write about them? These questions are not rhetorical or idly academic. They have real historical, intellectual, and commercial relevance. Answers may vary, but surely a primary response must be that, quite simply, Russian stage designs are immensely pleasing to the eye. They vibrate, and scintillate with color, texture, movement. Furthermore, through their daring inventions, Russian artists of the first thirty years of the 20th century transformed, profoundly and permanently, our perception of stage design — and hence of the theater. They belonged to an extraordinarily creative generation of impresarios, dancers, actors, patrons, and critics who inspired or at least made a major contribution to the international renaissance of the art of the stage, and in particular areas, e.g. the teaching and performing of ballet, their influence is still present today. However, in spite of the many published commentaries on the Russian theater, in spite of the autobiographies and biographies of its leading representatives, and in spite of the scholarly appreciations of its various components (ballet, drama, opera), the subject of stage design in Russia has yet to be explored in all its manifestations. What is meant by a catalogue raisonné? A compendium of this kind has three primary goals.
Analogous publications such as exhibition catalogs serve the same basic purpose, but often only to the extent of providing an inventory of works with rudimentary information or of drawing upon diverse collections in order to highlight a particular theme or artist.
Volume II John E. Bowlt, Nina and Nikita D. Lobanov-Rostovsky and Olga Shaumyan
If you would like details of this or other books please contact: ANTIQUE COLLECTORS’ CLUB www.antiquecollectorsclub.com ISBN: 978-1-85149-695-2
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1880-1930
1. First and foremost, it documents each work of art as fully as possible. This documentation includes curatorial data, provenance (prior ownership) index, and references to relevant published sources, exhibitions; and variants such as copies and preliminary drawings, 2. Secondly, a catalogue raisonné addresses the issues of attribution, identification of stage production, and date of execution and adduces evidence in the form of bibliographical, archival, and photographic data, expert opinion, and circumstantial evidence in order to support assumptions and conclusions. 3. Thirdly, by exposing and promoting a given collection, a catalogue raisonné introduces it into the public domain.
Nikita Dm. Lobanov-Rostovsky. Born 6 January 1935 in Sofia to Russian émigré parents. Holds BA/MA degrees in geology from Christ Church, Oxford University, MS in economic geology from Columbia University, and MBA in accounting from University of New York. Occupied senior positions at Chemical (now Morgan Chase) Bank,New York City; Wells Fargo Bank, San Francisco, and, finally at International Resources and Finance Bank, London. 1987-97 advisor to the Central Selling Organisation (De Beers), London. 1991-97 consultant to Christie’s and Sotheby’s, both in London. He was a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers. In a civic capacity, Lobanov is fellow in perpetuity of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City); member of the board of directors of the Foundation for International Arts and Education (Washington, DC); regent of the Institute of Modern Russian Culture (Los Angeles, California), member of the Society of Collectors (Moscow and London), and board member of the St. Cyril and St. Methodius Foundation (Sofia).
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ENCYCLOPEDIA of RUSSIAN STAGE DESIGN
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John E. Bowlt, Nina and Nikita D. Lobanov-Rostovsky and Olga Shaumyan
Front cover: Léon Bakst: Costume Design for the Péri, Péri, 1911 (No. 89). Back cover: Alexandra Exter: 4 Costume designs, 1924: Woman with a Farthingale, Woman with a Fan, and Man with a Ruff, all three for La Dama Duende (Nos. 472, 470 and 471); and Aelita, Queen of the Martians, Aelita (No. 465). Spine: El Lissitzky: Design for the New Man (Neuer, Figure 10), 1923 (No. 764).
EXTER, A. A.
166
471
Reproduced in color in B115, plate 139; F107, p. 584; and in black and white in C7, fig. 200; I14, No. 55; I32, No. 21; I51, No. 83; I69, p. 12; I78, p. 143; I117, p. 542; N126 (b); O31; and Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 28. A variant was auctioned in J19, Lot 88.
469 [68; NIRE]. Costume Design for a Martian, 1924. Watercolour and gouache 207⁄8 x 141⁄8 in., 53 x 36 cm. Inscription: “Projet de costume féminin” Provenance: Tableaux Modernes, auction organized by François de Ricqlès at the Salle Drouot, Paris, 2001, 30 August, Lot 29 (reproduced). Reproduced in color in Chauvelin, Alexandra Exter, fig. 202; I117. p. 543; and in black and white in Faucher, Alexandra Exter: divadlo: skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 22.
Note: Aelita was Exter’s only major commitment to the art of film, although sources mention her involvement in other movies such as Daughter of the Sun,279 and she also constructed her marionettes in 1926 for a movie projected, but not produced, by Peter Gad in Paris. Based on Alexei Tolstoi’s novel Aelita of 1923, the movie was part of the current fashion for sci-fi culture just before and after the Revolution and it paralleled the serious and less serious examples of “sky art” contemplated by Alexander Labas, Vladimir Liushin, Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin, and other artists during the 1920s. In her pioneering designs, Exter set an example that anticipated our contemporary resolutions of space fantasies such as Star Wars. With its easy plot, box office stars (Yuliia Solntseva as Aelita and Yurii Zavadsky as Gor), and audacious costumes by Exter, Aelita could not fail to attract both Russian and Western audiences, even though film critics have genuine reservations about this “cosmic Odyssey.”280
470 470 [69; R979]. Costume Design for a Woman with a Fan, ca. 1924. Watercolor, ink, and pencil. 215⁄8 x 151⁄2 in., 55 x 39.5 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1965. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 138; F107, p. 584; and in black and white in C7, fig. 199; G42, p. 205; I20, No. 35; I32, No. 19; I51, No. 82; I78, p. 143; I117, p. 542. A variant in the collection of the late Donald Oenslager is reproduced in Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 28. 471 [70; R980]. Costume Design for a Man with a Ruff, 1924. Gouache and collage. Signed and dated lower right in Russian: “A. Exter 1924.” 167⁄8 x 215⁄8 in., 43 x 55 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1965.
EXTER, A. A.
473 [NIRE]. Costume Design for Doña Angela, 1926. Gouache. 245⁄8 x 161⁄8 in. 62.5 x 41 cm Signed and dated lower right in French: “A. Exter 1926”. Provenance: Peintures Russes, Salle 1, Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, 19 May, 2004, Lot 87 (reproduced). Reproduced in F107, p. 584. The attribution to Exter has been questioned.
La Dama Duende (The Phantom Lady): comedy in three acts by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Produced by Mikhail Chekhov at the Second Studio of the Moscow Art Theater on 9 April, 1924, with designs by Ignatii Nivinsky. This comedy of confused identities treats of the elaborate love affair between one Don Manuel and Doña Angela, the sister of Don Juan. By installing a glass partition between her chambers and the room of her brother’s guest, Don Manuel, Doña Angela enamored of Don Manuel, is able to move back and forth quickly and silently. After a skirmish between Don Luis (the brother of Don Juan) and Don Manuel, after the passing of anonymous love letters, after a scolding by Don Juan, solicitous of his sister’s welfare (she being a recent widow), Doña Angela, the phantom lady, accepts the hand of Don Manuel, while her maid Isabel accepts the hand of Cosme, Don Manuel’s servant.
469
167
Note: There is some question as to the attribution of No. 473 [NIRE] to Exter and, in any case, as to the exact date and application of her stage designs for La Dama Duende, although it is known that she worked on an unrealized production at the Moscow Art Theater as early as 1919. Moreover, according to Lissim et al., Artist of the Theater (p. 38), Exter also designed costumes for a 1921 production at the Second Studio of the Moscow Art Theater, but other sources (e.g. C182) omit any reference to such a production. However, Mikhail Chekhov did produce La Dama Duende there on 9 April, 1924, with designs by Ignatii Nivinsky, a former student of Exter, although, in his book (G42, pp. 203-04),
472 [71; R981]. Costume Design for a Woman with a Farthingale, 1924. Gouache and collage. Signed and dated lower right in Russian: “A. Exter 1924.” 167⁄8 x 215⁄8 in., 43 x 55 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1965. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 137; F107, p. 584; G79, p. 134; and in black and white in G55, p. 227; I14, No. 54; I32, No. 20; I51, No. 84; I69, p. 12; I78, p. 143; I117, p. 532; M73 (a); P15; Q3; Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 28; and on the cover of C. Kelly, ed., An Anthology of Russian Women’s Writing, 1777-1992, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994; also see J36, Lots 191, 192.
472
474
she emigrated to Paris early in 1924, she or Chekhov may have passed on the project to Nivinsky (see No. 801 [R682]). There is no evidence to assume — as has been done traditionally — that Exter worked on a separate Paris production also in 1924.281 Various projects. Exter made the following designs (Nos. 474-80 [R982-88]) between ca. 1925 and ca. 1927. In greater or lesser degree they all relate to the set of fifteen gouaches au pochoir, or silkscreens, that she compiled for the album Alexandra Exter. Décors de Théâtre (see Nos. 483-97 [R989-1003]). Nos. 476 [R984], 479 [R987], and 480 [R988] are the original gouaches for the silkscreen duplicates. None of the designs seems to have been used for an actual production, although the intensity with which Exter worked on them indicates that she was expecting commissions. 473 Donald Oenslager refers to this production as a collaboration between Chekhov and Exter. It is possible that Chekhov first gave the design commission to Exter, but since
474 [72; R982]. Stage Design for a Revue, ca. 1925. Gouache. Signed lower right: “A Exter.” 20 x 263⁄8 in., 51 x 67 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry,
EXTER, A. A.
166
471
Reproduced in color in B115, plate 139; F107, p. 584; and in black and white in C7, fig. 200; I14, No. 55; I32, No. 21; I51, No. 83; I69, p. 12; I78, p. 143; I117, p. 542; N126 (b); O31; and Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 28. A variant was auctioned in J19, Lot 88.
469 [68; NIRE]. Costume Design for a Martian, 1924. Watercolour and gouache 207⁄8 x 141⁄8 in., 53 x 36 cm. Inscription: “Projet de costume féminin” Provenance: Tableaux Modernes, auction organized by François de Ricqlès at the Salle Drouot, Paris, 2001, 30 August, Lot 29 (reproduced). Reproduced in color in Chauvelin, Alexandra Exter, fig. 202; I117. p. 543; and in black and white in Faucher, Alexandra Exter: divadlo: skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 22.
Note: Aelita was Exter’s only major commitment to the art of film, although sources mention her involvement in other movies such as Daughter of the Sun,279 and she also constructed her marionettes in 1926 for a movie projected, but not produced, by Peter Gad in Paris. Based on Alexei Tolstoi’s novel Aelita of 1923, the movie was part of the current fashion for sci-fi culture just before and after the Revolution and it paralleled the serious and less serious examples of “sky art” contemplated by Alexander Labas, Vladimir Liushin, Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin, and other artists during the 1920s. In her pioneering designs, Exter set an example that anticipated our contemporary resolutions of space fantasies such as Star Wars. With its easy plot, box office stars (Yuliia Solntseva as Aelita and Yurii Zavadsky as Gor), and audacious costumes by Exter, Aelita could not fail to attract both Russian and Western audiences, even though film critics have genuine reservations about this “cosmic Odyssey.”280
470 470 [69; R979]. Costume Design for a Woman with a Fan, ca. 1924. Watercolor, ink, and pencil. 215⁄8 x 151⁄2 in., 55 x 39.5 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1965. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 138; F107, p. 584; and in black and white in C7, fig. 199; G42, p. 205; I20, No. 35; I32, No. 19; I51, No. 82; I78, p. 143; I117, p. 542. A variant in the collection of the late Donald Oenslager is reproduced in Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 28. 471 [70; R980]. Costume Design for a Man with a Ruff, 1924. Gouache and collage. Signed and dated lower right in Russian: “A. Exter 1924.” 167⁄8 x 215⁄8 in., 43 x 55 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1965.
EXTER, A. A.
473 [NIRE]. Costume Design for Doña Angela, 1926. Gouache. 245⁄8 x 161⁄8 in. 62.5 x 41 cm Signed and dated lower right in French: “A. Exter 1926”. Provenance: Peintures Russes, Salle 1, Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, 19 May, 2004, Lot 87 (reproduced). Reproduced in F107, p. 584. The attribution to Exter has been questioned.
La Dama Duende (The Phantom Lady): comedy in three acts by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Produced by Mikhail Chekhov at the Second Studio of the Moscow Art Theater on 9 April, 1924, with designs by Ignatii Nivinsky. This comedy of confused identities treats of the elaborate love affair between one Don Manuel and Doña Angela, the sister of Don Juan. By installing a glass partition between her chambers and the room of her brother’s guest, Don Manuel, Doña Angela enamored of Don Manuel, is able to move back and forth quickly and silently. After a skirmish between Don Luis (the brother of Don Juan) and Don Manuel, after the passing of anonymous love letters, after a scolding by Don Juan, solicitous of his sister’s welfare (she being a recent widow), Doña Angela, the phantom lady, accepts the hand of Don Manuel, while her maid Isabel accepts the hand of Cosme, Don Manuel’s servant.
469
167
Note: There is some question as to the attribution of No. 473 [NIRE] to Exter and, in any case, as to the exact date and application of her stage designs for La Dama Duende, although it is known that she worked on an unrealized production at the Moscow Art Theater as early as 1919. Moreover, according to Lissim et al., Artist of the Theater (p. 38), Exter also designed costumes for a 1921 production at the Second Studio of the Moscow Art Theater, but other sources (e.g. C182) omit any reference to such a production. However, Mikhail Chekhov did produce La Dama Duende there on 9 April, 1924, with designs by Ignatii Nivinsky, a former student of Exter, although, in his book (G42, pp. 203-04),
472 [71; R981]. Costume Design for a Woman with a Farthingale, 1924. Gouache and collage. Signed and dated lower right in Russian: “A. Exter 1924.” 167⁄8 x 215⁄8 in., 43 x 55 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1965. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 137; F107, p. 584; G79, p. 134; and in black and white in G55, p. 227; I14, No. 54; I32, No. 20; I51, No. 84; I69, p. 12; I78, p. 143; I117, p. 532; M73 (a); P15; Q3; Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 28; and on the cover of C. Kelly, ed., An Anthology of Russian Women’s Writing, 1777-1992, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994; also see J36, Lots 191, 192.
472
474
she emigrated to Paris early in 1924, she or Chekhov may have passed on the project to Nivinsky (see No. 801 [R682]). There is no evidence to assume — as has been done traditionally — that Exter worked on a separate Paris production also in 1924.281 Various projects. Exter made the following designs (Nos. 474-80 [R982-88]) between ca. 1925 and ca. 1927. In greater or lesser degree they all relate to the set of fifteen gouaches au pochoir, or silkscreens, that she compiled for the album Alexandra Exter. Décors de Théâtre (see Nos. 483-97 [R989-1003]). Nos. 476 [R984], 479 [R987], and 480 [R988] are the original gouaches for the silkscreen duplicates. None of the designs seems to have been used for an actual production, although the intensity with which Exter worked on them indicates that she was expecting commissions. 473 Donald Oenslager refers to this production as a collaboration between Chekhov and Exter. It is possible that Chekhov first gave the design commission to Exter, but since
474 [72; R982]. Stage Design for a Revue, ca. 1925. Gouache. Signed lower right: “A Exter.” 20 x 263⁄8 in., 51 x 67 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry,
EXTER, A. A. New York, May, 1969. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 141; I117, p. 543; N64; and in black and white in
475
168 Faucher, Alexandra Exter: divadlo: skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 84; I20, No. 36; I32, No. 23; I51, No. 85; I78, p. 158; P42; P44.
475 [R983]. Stage Design for “King Lear”, ca. 1925. Gouache. Signed lower right: “A Exter.” 183⁄4 x 25 in., 47.5 x 63.5 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1965. Reproduced in I14, No. 53; I32, No. 22; I51, No. 86; I78, p. 158; I117, p. 545; P36; P56; and in Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 30. 476 [73; R984]. Stage Design for a Spanish Pantomime, ca. 1926. Gouache and black ink. Signed upper right: “A. Exter.” 191⁄2 x 201⁄2 in., 49.5 x 52 cm. Other inscription: on reverse a label from the 1937 Prague exhibition carrying the words “Span pantomima.” Provenance: Alina Izdebsky-Pritchard, New York, June, 1977. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 142; C8, frontispiece; F107, p. 427; Kovalenko, Alexandra Exter (1993), p. 153; I117, p. 547; and M150, p. 119; and in black and white in Teatr, iskusstvo, ekran, Paris, 1925, January, p. 19; Faucher, Alexandra Exter: divadlo: skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 68; C7, No. 193 (where it is dated 1926); I51, No. 87; I78, p. 158; N103. Exter repeated the design as a silkscreen for her Décors de Théâtre in 1930 (cf. 493 [R999]. An identical design, in the collection of the Theatermuseum, Cologne, is reproduced in I63, p. 106.
169 Note: The design is for a play by Solomon Poliakov-Litovtsev and Petr Potemkin projected in Paris in 1926, but not produced. In 1929 Exter returned to the subject in her designs for the ballet Don Juan ou Le Festin de Pierre (cf. Nos.481-82 [NIRE]). 478 [R986]. Stage Design for the Duel in “Othello,” ca. 1927. Gouache. Signed lower right: “Alex. Exter.” 181⁄4 x 235⁄8 in., 46.5 x 60 cm. Other inscriptions: on reverse a French customs’ stamp and label from the 1937 Prague exhibition carrying the words: “A. Exterova, No. 1 Shakespeare Othello Dekorace.” Provenance: Galina Izdebsky, New York, October, 1977. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 144; F107, p. 278; Chauvelin, Alexandra Exter, fig. 316; and in black and white in Faucher, Alexandra Exter: divadlo: skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 1; I51, No. 88; I78, p. 158; T5; T6. A similar design is reproduced in C7, No. 195.
Note: According to one source, this piece is: designed to serve the significant rhythmic emotion contained by a play, and is demanded by dynamic representation and interpretation. It suggests the transition from neorealism to concrete realism and shows the use of color.282
Huntly Carter, author of the above, then goes on to repeat what he identifies as Exter’s “construction formula”: Given that the intensity of the emotion of the play (tragedy, comedy, etc.) is strictly subordinated to the essential intensity of the “construction,” it is necessary that this construction be conceived for the emotional movement.283
477 [74; R985]. Stage Design and Lighting Study for Scene 3 of the Play Don Juan, ca. 1926. Gouache. Signed lower right: “A. Exter.” 20 x 27 in., 50.5 x 69.5 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, March, 1971. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 143; I117, p. 545; and in black and white in Faucher, Alexandra Exter: divadlo, skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 99; I78, p. 158. 476
EXTER, A. A.
478
477
EXTER, A. A. New York, May, 1969. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 141; I117, p. 543; N64; and in black and white in
475
168 Faucher, Alexandra Exter: divadlo: skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 84; I20, No. 36; I32, No. 23; I51, No. 85; I78, p. 158; P42; P44.
475 [R983]. Stage Design for “King Lear”, ca. 1925. Gouache. Signed lower right: “A Exter.” 183⁄4 x 25 in., 47.5 x 63.5 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1965. Reproduced in I14, No. 53; I32, No. 22; I51, No. 86; I78, p. 158; I117, p. 545; P36; P56; and in Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 30. 476 [73; R984]. Stage Design for a Spanish Pantomime, ca. 1926. Gouache and black ink. Signed upper right: “A. Exter.” 191⁄2 x 201⁄2 in., 49.5 x 52 cm. Other inscription: on reverse a label from the 1937 Prague exhibition carrying the words “Span pantomima.” Provenance: Alina Izdebsky-Pritchard, New York, June, 1977. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 142; C8, frontispiece; F107, p. 427; Kovalenko, Alexandra Exter (1993), p. 153; I117, p. 547; and M150, p. 119; and in black and white in Teatr, iskusstvo, ekran, Paris, 1925, January, p. 19; Faucher, Alexandra Exter: divadlo: skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 68; C7, No. 193 (where it is dated 1926); I51, No. 87; I78, p. 158; N103. Exter repeated the design as a silkscreen for her Décors de Théâtre in 1930 (cf. 493 [R999]. An identical design, in the collection of the Theatermuseum, Cologne, is reproduced in I63, p. 106.
169 Note: The design is for a play by Solomon Poliakov-Litovtsev and Petr Potemkin projected in Paris in 1926, but not produced. In 1929 Exter returned to the subject in her designs for the ballet Don Juan ou Le Festin de Pierre (cf. Nos.481-82 [NIRE]). 478 [R986]. Stage Design for the Duel in “Othello,” ca. 1927. Gouache. Signed lower right: “Alex. Exter.” 181⁄4 x 235⁄8 in., 46.5 x 60 cm. Other inscriptions: on reverse a French customs’ stamp and label from the 1937 Prague exhibition carrying the words: “A. Exterova, No. 1 Shakespeare Othello Dekorace.” Provenance: Galina Izdebsky, New York, October, 1977. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 144; F107, p. 278; Chauvelin, Alexandra Exter, fig. 316; and in black and white in Faucher, Alexandra Exter: divadlo: skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 1; I51, No. 88; I78, p. 158; T5; T6. A similar design is reproduced in C7, No. 195.
Note: According to one source, this piece is: designed to serve the significant rhythmic emotion contained by a play, and is demanded by dynamic representation and interpretation. It suggests the transition from neorealism to concrete realism and shows the use of color.282
Huntly Carter, author of the above, then goes on to repeat what he identifies as Exter’s “construction formula”: Given that the intensity of the emotion of the play (tragedy, comedy, etc.) is strictly subordinated to the essential intensity of the “construction,” it is necessary that this construction be conceived for the emotional movement.283
477 [74; R985]. Stage Design and Lighting Study for Scene 3 of the Play Don Juan, ca. 1926. Gouache. Signed lower right: “A. Exter.” 20 x 27 in., 50.5 x 69.5 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, March, 1971. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 143; I117, p. 545; and in black and white in Faucher, Alexandra Exter: divadlo, skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 99; I78, p. 158. 476
EXTER, A. A.
478
477
EXTER, A. A.
170
171 483 [R989]. Stage Design for Othello, Act I, with Three Performers on Stage. Signed in pencil lower right in Russian: “Alex. Exter.”
Alexandra Exter: divadlo: skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 65; I32, No. 38; I51, No. 89; I78, p. 158; M182, p. 7; P5; P7; P10; P19; P31; P35; P37; P43; and Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 30. This design is reminiscent of one of Exter’s sets for the 1921 production of Romeo and Juliet at the Chamber Theater, Moscow (cf. G10, Vol. 2, fig. 153.). Exter repeated the design as a silkscreen for her Décors de Théâtre in 1930 (cf. 494 [R1000]. 480 [R988]. Stage Design with Two Dancers Holding a Hoop, ca. 1927. Watercolor. Signed lower right: “A Exter.” 187⁄8 x 251⁄4 in., 48 x 64 cm. Provenance: André Boll, Paris, 1965. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 146; Kovalenko, Alexandra Exter (1993), p. 220; and I117, p. 548; and in black and white in I32, No. 39; I51, No. 90; I78, p. 158; and Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 30. Exter repeated the design (minus the hoop) as a silkscreen for her Décors de Théâtre in 1930 (cf. 497 [R1003]). Don Juan, ou Le Festin de Pierre: ballet in three acts with libretto by Ranieri de’ Calzabigi, and music by Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck. Projected, but not produced, for Elsa Kruger (Elza Kriuger) at the Opera House, Cologne, in 1929. Don Juan serenades Donna Elvira, but her father, the Commander, enters with sword drawn to protect his daughter and, in the ensuing duel, Don Juan kills the Commander. Don Juan is banqueting with friends, when a terrible knocking is heard at the door. Opening the door, Don Juan discovers the marble statue of the dead Commander, which invites Don Juan to dine at his tomb. The Commander steps from his tomb, and although Don Juan confronts the Commander with frivolity, irrevocable judg-
479
480 479 [R987]. Lighting Design for a Tragedy, ca. 1927. Gouache. Signed lower right: “A Exter.” 201⁄4 x 20 in., 51.5 x 51 cm.
Provenance: Sonya Ryback, Paris, September, 1971. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 145; and Kovalenko, Alexandra Exter (1993), p. 146; and in black and white in Faucher,
481
EXTER, A. A.
482
ment is passed upon him: to the strains of a passacaglia, graves fly open, flames rise, and Juan descends into Hell. 481 [NIRE]. Costume Design for Don Juan, ca. 1929. Watercolor and pencil. Signed lower right: “A. Exter”. 273⁄4 x 167⁄8 in., 60.5 x 43 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, March, 1965. Now in a private collection. Reproduced in I20, No. 37.
483
482 [NIRE]. Costume Design for a Female Dancer, ca. 1929. Gouache and ink. Signed lower right: “A. Exter”. 243⁄8 x 161⁄2 in., 62 x 42 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, March, 1965. Now in a private collection. Reproduced in I20, No. 38. Décors de Théâtre (Set of silkscreens). Nos. 483-97 [R989-1003] are stage designs, all 13 x 20 in. (33 x 50.5 cm.), from the album of fifteen silkscreens (pochoirs) Alexandra Exter. Décors de Théâtre, Paris: Editions des Quatre Chemins, 1930. The set of silkscreens, all by Exter, was published in an edition of about 150 copies, and each piece was identified by its own title. The album was prepared and prefaced by Exter’s old friend, Alexander Tairov, director of the Chamber Theater. For color reproductions of all fifteen pieces see, for example, J27, Lot 232. Nos. 485 [R991], 486 [R992], and 492 [R998] carry dedications by Exter to the sculptor and patron Vladimir Alexeevich Izdebsky (1882-1965). Provenance: all fifteen were acquired from Galina Izdebsky, New York, October, 1969.
484
484 [R990]. Stage Design for Othello,Act II. Signed in pencil lower right in Russian: “Alex. Exter.”
EXTER, A. A.
170
171 483 [R989]. Stage Design for Othello, Act I, with Three Performers on Stage. Signed in pencil lower right in Russian: “Alex. Exter.”
Alexandra Exter: divadlo: skizy, dekorace, kostymy, No. 65; I32, No. 38; I51, No. 89; I78, p. 158; M182, p. 7; P5; P7; P10; P19; P31; P35; P37; P43; and Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 30. This design is reminiscent of one of Exter’s sets for the 1921 production of Romeo and Juliet at the Chamber Theater, Moscow (cf. G10, Vol. 2, fig. 153.). Exter repeated the design as a silkscreen for her Décors de Théâtre in 1930 (cf. 494 [R1000]. 480 [R988]. Stage Design with Two Dancers Holding a Hoop, ca. 1927. Watercolor. Signed lower right: “A Exter.” 187⁄8 x 251⁄4 in., 48 x 64 cm. Provenance: André Boll, Paris, 1965. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 146; Kovalenko, Alexandra Exter (1993), p. 220; and I117, p. 548; and in black and white in I32, No. 39; I51, No. 90; I78, p. 158; and Lissim et al., Artist of the Theatre, p. 30. Exter repeated the design (minus the hoop) as a silkscreen for her Décors de Théâtre in 1930 (cf. 497 [R1003]). Don Juan, ou Le Festin de Pierre: ballet in three acts with libretto by Ranieri de’ Calzabigi, and music by Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck. Projected, but not produced, for Elsa Kruger (Elza Kriuger) at the Opera House, Cologne, in 1929. Don Juan serenades Donna Elvira, but her father, the Commander, enters with sword drawn to protect his daughter and, in the ensuing duel, Don Juan kills the Commander. Don Juan is banqueting with friends, when a terrible knocking is heard at the door. Opening the door, Don Juan discovers the marble statue of the dead Commander, which invites Don Juan to dine at his tomb. The Commander steps from his tomb, and although Don Juan confronts the Commander with frivolity, irrevocable judg-
479
480 479 [R987]. Lighting Design for a Tragedy, ca. 1927. Gouache. Signed lower right: “A Exter.” 201⁄4 x 20 in., 51.5 x 51 cm.
Provenance: Sonya Ryback, Paris, September, 1971. Reproduced in color in B115, plate 145; and Kovalenko, Alexandra Exter (1993), p. 146; and in black and white in Faucher,
481
EXTER, A. A.
482
ment is passed upon him: to the strains of a passacaglia, graves fly open, flames rise, and Juan descends into Hell. 481 [NIRE]. Costume Design for Don Juan, ca. 1929. Watercolor and pencil. Signed lower right: “A. Exter”. 273⁄4 x 167⁄8 in., 60.5 x 43 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, March, 1965. Now in a private collection. Reproduced in I20, No. 37.
483
482 [NIRE]. Costume Design for a Female Dancer, ca. 1929. Gouache and ink. Signed lower right: “A. Exter”. 243⁄8 x 161⁄2 in., 62 x 42 cm. Provenance: Simon Lissim, Dobbs Ferry, New York, March, 1965. Now in a private collection. Reproduced in I20, No. 38. Décors de Théâtre (Set of silkscreens). Nos. 483-97 [R989-1003] are stage designs, all 13 x 20 in. (33 x 50.5 cm.), from the album of fifteen silkscreens (pochoirs) Alexandra Exter. Décors de Théâtre, Paris: Editions des Quatre Chemins, 1930. The set of silkscreens, all by Exter, was published in an edition of about 150 copies, and each piece was identified by its own title. The album was prepared and prefaced by Exter’s old friend, Alexander Tairov, director of the Chamber Theater. For color reproductions of all fifteen pieces see, for example, J27, Lot 232. Nos. 485 [R991], 486 [R992], and 492 [R998] carry dedications by Exter to the sculptor and patron Vladimir Alexeevich Izdebsky (1882-1965). Provenance: all fifteen were acquired from Galina Izdebsky, New York, October, 1969.
484
484 [R990]. Stage Design for Othello,Act II. Signed in pencil lower right in Russian: “Alex. Exter.”
EXTER, A. A.
172
173
EXTER, A. A.
487 [R993]. Design for Cirque with Six Performers in Capes. Signed lower right in Russian: “Alex. Exter.” Reproduced in color in N157. The ballet Circus was composed by the dancer Elsa Kruger (Elza Kriuger). 488 [75; R994]. Stage Design for an Operetta with Action on Five Platforms. Signed in pencil lower right in Russian: “Alex. Exter.” Reproduced in color in N157; and in Kovalenko, Alexandra Exter (1993), p. 152.
487
485
485 [R991]. Stage Design for Faust with Flags on Stage. Inscribed lower right in pencil in Russian: “To dear Vladimir Alexeevich [Izdebsky] from Alexandra Exter, January, 1948.” 486 [R992]. Design for Cirque with Male and Female Performers. Inscribed in ink lower right: “Souvenir d’A. Exter à l’ami Izdebsky, Janvier, 1948, Paris. Act 2 de Cirque.” The ballet Circus was composed by the dancer Elsa Kruger (Elza Kriuger).
486
488
EXTER, A. A.
172
173
EXTER, A. A.
487 [R993]. Design for Cirque with Six Performers in Capes. Signed lower right in Russian: “Alex. Exter.” Reproduced in color in N157. The ballet Circus was composed by the dancer Elsa Kruger (Elza Kriuger). 488 [75; R994]. Stage Design for an Operetta with Action on Five Platforms. Signed in pencil lower right in Russian: “Alex. Exter.” Reproduced in color in N157; and in Kovalenko, Alexandra Exter (1993), p. 152.
487
485
485 [R991]. Stage Design for Faust with Flags on Stage. Inscribed lower right in pencil in Russian: “To dear Vladimir Alexeevich [Izdebsky] from Alexandra Exter, January, 1948.” 486 [R992]. Design for Cirque with Male and Female Performers. Inscribed in ink lower right: “Souvenir d’A. Exter à l’ami Izdebsky, Janvier, 1948, Paris. Act 2 de Cirque.” The ballet Circus was composed by the dancer Elsa Kruger (Elza Kriuger).
486
488
Nina Lobanov-Rostovsky was born in Paris in 1937. She had a French father and a Russian mother. As her father was a diplomat she grew up and was educated all over the world. Nina was the protocol officer at the UNO for the fifteen African Countries when they became members in 1960. After that she spent nineteen years as a research editor at the Reader’s Digest in Paris and then New York, working inter alia with Sir Kenneth Clark on The Romantic Rebellion, Romantic Versus Classical Art. She thought up and was the packaging editor for The Royal Interiors of Regency England (London, 1984) and is the author of Revolutionary Ceramics, Soviet Porcelain 1917-1927 (London, 1990). Her reviews have appeared in Apollo, The Art Newspaper, The Moscow Times, The East-West Review, and the Slavic and East European Journal. More recently she was an external consultant for the exhibition Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909-1929, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Nina who was married to her fellow collector Nikita for thirtynine years, lives in London and is a free-lance writer, editor and lecturer. She is a consultant to Christie’s and Sotheby’s on the Russian decorative arts and also lectures on tours in Russia.
ENCYCLOPEDIA of RUSSIAN STAGE DESIGN
1880-1930
John E. Bowlt is a professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where he is also director of the Institute of Modern Russian Culture. He has written extensively on Russian visual culture, especially on the art of Symbolism and the avant-garde, his latest book being Moscow, St. Petersburg. Art and Culture during the Russian Silver Age (New York, 2008). Dr. Bowlt has also curated or co-curated exhibitions of Russian art, including “Theater of Reason / Theater of Desire: the Art of Alexandre Benois and Léon Bakst” at the Fondazione Thyssen Bornemisza, Lugano (1999), “Amazons of the Avant-Garde” at the Guggenheim Museums in Berlin, Venice, Moscow, and New York (1999-2001), “A Feast of Wonders. Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes” at the Nouveau Musée de Monte Carlo, Monaco, and the State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow (2009-10); and “El Cosmos de la vanguardia rusa” at the Fundación Marcelino Botin, Santander, and the State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki (2010-11). In September, 2010, he received the Order of Friendship from the Russian Federation for his promotion of Russian culture in the USA.
ENCYCLOPEDIA of RUSSIAN STAGE DESIGN 1880-1930
VOLUME II Why collect Russian stage designs? Why write about them? These questions are not rhetorical or idly academic. They have real historical, intellectual, and commercial relevance. Answers may vary, but surely a primary response must be that, quite simply, Russian stage designs are immensely pleasing to the eye. They vibrate, and scintillate with color, texture, movement. Furthermore, through their daring inventions, Russian artists of the first thirty years of the 20th century transformed, profoundly and permanently, our perception of stage design — and hence of the theater. They belonged to an extraordinarily creative generation of impresarios, dancers, actors, patrons, and critics who inspired or at least made a major contribution to the international renaissance of the art of the stage, and in particular areas, e.g. the teaching and performing of ballet, their influence is still present today. However, in spite of the many published commentaries on the Russian theater, in spite of the autobiographies and biographies of its leading representatives, and in spite of the scholarly appreciations of its various components (ballet, drama, opera), the subject of stage design in Russia has yet to be explored in all its manifestations. What is meant by a catalogue raisonné? A compendium of this kind has three primary goals.
Analogous publications such as exhibition catalogs serve the same basic purpose, but often only to the extent of providing an inventory of works with rudimentary information or of drawing upon diverse collections in order to highlight a particular theme or artist.
Volume II John E. Bowlt, Nina and Nikita D. Lobanov-Rostovsky and Olga Shaumyan
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1880-1930
1. First and foremost, it documents each work of art as fully as possible. This documentation includes curatorial data, provenance (prior ownership) index, and references to relevant published sources, exhibitions; and variants such as copies and preliminary drawings, 2. Secondly, a catalogue raisonné addresses the issues of attribution, identification of stage production, and date of execution and adduces evidence in the form of bibliographical, archival, and photographic data, expert opinion, and circumstantial evidence in order to support assumptions and conclusions. 3. Thirdly, by exposing and promoting a given collection, a catalogue raisonné introduces it into the public domain.
Nikita Dm. Lobanov-Rostovsky. Born 6 January 1935 in Sofia to Russian émigré parents. Holds BA/MA degrees in geology from Christ Church, Oxford University, MS in economic geology from Columbia University, and MBA in accounting from University of New York. Occupied senior positions at Chemical (now Morgan Chase) Bank,New York City; Wells Fargo Bank, San Francisco, and, finally at International Resources and Finance Bank, London. 1987-97 advisor to the Central Selling Organisation (De Beers), London. 1991-97 consultant to Christie’s and Sotheby’s, both in London. He was a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers. In a civic capacity, Lobanov is fellow in perpetuity of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City); member of the board of directors of the Foundation for International Arts and Education (Washington, DC); regent of the Institute of Modern Russian Culture (Los Angeles, California), member of the Society of Collectors (Moscow and London), and board member of the St. Cyril and St. Methodius Foundation (Sofia).
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ENCYCLOPEDIA of RUSSIAN STAGE DESIGN
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John E. Bowlt, Nina and Nikita D. Lobanov-Rostovsky and Olga Shaumyan
Front cover: Léon Bakst: Costume Design for the Péri, Péri, 1911 (No. 89). Back cover: Alexandra Exter: 4 Costume designs, 1924: Woman with a Farthingale, Woman with a Fan, and Man with a Ruff, all three for La Dama Duende (Nos. 472, 470 and 471); and Aelita, Queen of the Martians, Aelita (No. 465). Spine: El Lissitzky: Design for the New Man (Neuer, Figure 10), 1923 (No. 764).