.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The present painting by Leon De Smet, dated 1922, was formerly known as Anna Pavlova à Londres. Recent research shows, however, that the painting depicts a scene from the ballet Les Biches, a production of Sergei Diaghilev's (1872-1929) 'Les Ballets Russes' that premiered in Monte Carlo on 6 January 1924. The ballet's décor and costumes were designed by French artist Marie Laurencin (1883-1956). The Ballet was choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska (1890-1972) and the music was composed by the young Francis Poulenc (1899-1963). The leading dancer was not Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) but Vera Nemchinova (1899-1984), who had her official breakthrough in the same year, while Pavlova only had danced in the first ballet season of Diaghilev in 1909.
As the basis for his impressive painting, Leon De Smet used a well-known publicity photo of Les Biches (fig. 1). He positioned the dancing Nemchinova and the two seated dancers in a similar way, although he permitted himself more artistic liberty for the background, using only certain elements of the décor to create his own strong composition. By using powerful colour planes, the focus is on the autonomous play of line, colour and shape, which is so typical for early 20th Century painting. The texture De Smet created of the velvet costume of Nemchinova is extraordinary. The depth and layering of the dark blue colour remind us stronger of Barnett Newman (1905-1970) than of the Post-Impressionists, to whom De Smet belonged. It is very likely that De Smet not only saw the photograph but went to see the ballet as well. The colours in the painting, especially the striking pink and blue, are very similar to the colors that Marie Laurencin chose for Les Biches. Not only can we see this on Laurencin's design for the front curtain (fig. 2), but especially on a photo by a recent stage performance of Les Biches by the Bayerische Staatsballet (fig. 3).
Piet Boyens, the expert on Leon De Smet, had already come to the conclusion that the painting could be dated around 1925, due to stylistic characteristics (see: Piet Boyens, Leon de Smet, Lannoo, 1994, p. 177). It is indeed very well possible that this is when De Smet saw Les Biches. The artist lived in London in 1925 and on 25 May, that year, Les Biches - in England titled The Houseparty - premiered.
Les Biches definitely was one of the most admired ballets of the late Diaghilev repertoire. Its popularity was not only based on the brilliant music by Francis Poulenc and the light footed dance by Nijinska, but certainly also on the many erotic allusions the ballet harbours. The androgynous female lead, with her masculine costume and short hair is a crucial element in this. Not only here fore it is understandable that De Smet chose this ballet, it also gave him the possibility to experiment with the pink and blue colours that we have not seen in his work before. The question why De Smet dated his work '1922' remains unanswered. According to Piet Boyens this happened more than once in De Smet's oeuvre. We do not know if De Smet himself titled the painting Anna Pavlova à Londres. This title was first recorded in a 1976 publication of the Leon de Smet Museum. If this title came from the artist himself it was probably because of commercial reasons since Pavlova's death in 1931 generated an enormous amount of attention and publicity that considerably intensified her cult-status.
We would like to thank Dr. Sjeng Scheijen for writing this catalogue entry. Scheijen is historian of Russian 19th and early 20th Century art, and author of Diaghilev: a life (London, 2009).
We would like to thank Piet Boyens for his help in cataloguing the present lot.
As the basis for his impressive painting, Leon De Smet used a well-known publicity photo of Les Biches (fig. 1). He positioned the dancing Nemchinova and the two seated dancers in a similar way, although he permitted himself more artistic liberty for the background, using only certain elements of the décor to create his own strong composition. By using powerful colour planes, the focus is on the autonomous play of line, colour and shape, which is so typical for early 20th Century painting. The texture De Smet created of the velvet costume of Nemchinova is extraordinary. The depth and layering of the dark blue colour remind us stronger of Barnett Newman (1905-1970) than of the Post-Impressionists, to whom De Smet belonged. It is very likely that De Smet not only saw the photograph but went to see the ballet as well. The colours in the painting, especially the striking pink and blue, are very similar to the colors that Marie Laurencin chose for Les Biches. Not only can we see this on Laurencin's design for the front curtain (fig. 2), but especially on a photo by a recent stage performance of Les Biches by the Bayerische Staatsballet (fig. 3).
Piet Boyens, the expert on Leon De Smet, had already come to the conclusion that the painting could be dated around 1925, due to stylistic characteristics (see: Piet Boyens, Leon de Smet, Lannoo, 1994, p. 177). It is indeed very well possible that this is when De Smet saw Les Biches. The artist lived in London in 1925 and on 25 May, that year, Les Biches - in England titled The Houseparty - premiered.
Les Biches definitely was one of the most admired ballets of the late Diaghilev repertoire. Its popularity was not only based on the brilliant music by Francis Poulenc and the light footed dance by Nijinska, but certainly also on the many erotic allusions the ballet harbours. The androgynous female lead, with her masculine costume and short hair is a crucial element in this. Not only here fore it is understandable that De Smet chose this ballet, it also gave him the possibility to experiment with the pink and blue colours that we have not seen in his work before. The question why De Smet dated his work '1922' remains unanswered. According to Piet Boyens this happened more than once in De Smet's oeuvre. We do not know if De Smet himself titled the painting Anna Pavlova à Londres. This title was first recorded in a 1976 publication of the Leon de Smet Museum. If this title came from the artist himself it was probably because of commercial reasons since Pavlova's death in 1931 generated an enormous amount of attention and publicity that considerably intensified her cult-status.
We would like to thank Dr. Sjeng Scheijen for writing this catalogue entry. Scheijen is historian of Russian 19th and early 20th Century art, and author of Diaghilev: a life (London, 2009).
We would like to thank Piet Boyens for his help in cataloguing the present lot.