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Set design for Giselle: Act I, A rustic village on the Rhine
Details
Alexandre Benois (1870-1960)
Set design for Giselle: Act I, A rustic village on the Rhine
signed, inscribed and dated 'Alexandre Benois XII 1948/Giselle/[..] (lower left), further signed and inscribed 'à nos bien chers amis les Cremer/souvenir affectueux d'Alexandre Benois.' (lower right); further signed, inscribed and dated 'Alexandre Benois XII 1948/Décor du 1er acte/de Giselle/pour l'Opera de Paris' (on the reverse)
pencil, ink, watercolour and gouache on paper
16 x 22½ in. (40.6 x 57.1 cm)
Set design for Giselle: Act I, A rustic village on the Rhine
signed, inscribed and dated 'Alexandre Benois XII 1948/Giselle/[..] (lower left), further signed and inscribed 'à nos bien chers amis les Cremer/souvenir affectueux d'Alexandre Benois.' (lower right); further signed, inscribed and dated 'Alexandre Benois XII 1948/Décor du 1er acte/de Giselle/pour l'Opera de Paris' (on the reverse)
pencil, ink, watercolour and gouache on paper
16 x 22½ in. (40.6 x 57.1 cm)
Provenance
Acquired by the previous owner in 1956.
Special notice
Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.
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Further details
In 1924 Alexandre Benois began collaborating with the regisseur Nicholas Sergeyev to design the sets and costumes for the romantic ballet Giselle at the Paris Opera. Incorporating the notations of ballet master Marius Petipa, Sergeyev's revived staging of Giselle set the standard for practically all subsequent productions.
The present lot is the decor for the first of the two acts, depicting a rustic village on the Rhine, with two thatched cottages nestled in the foreground from where much of the drama unfolds.
Dated 1948 by Benois, this drawing represents the last year the artist worked on the Paris production of the ballet, before taking his ideas to La Scala in Milan.
Brought to you by
Sarah Mansfield