Watercolor on paper, signed 'George Alan Swanson' lower right, titled and inscribed 'Igor Youskevitch / Lubov Rostova' upper left, signed 'George Alan Swanson', titled, and inscribed 'Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo / Lubov Rostova / Igor Youskevitch' upper left. 16 x 12 3/4 in. (sight), 22 1/2 x 18 in. (frame). Beautifully framed. Read More...
14211. [Ballets Russes]. "Saison Russe" - Two 1911 Special Issues of Comoedia Illustré
Numéro Spécial: n°16 & 19 / 3ème année. Two special issues of the illustrated magazine dated May 15, 1911 and July 1, 1911 and including features on the Saison Russe, with pictures of Nijinsky, Cecchetti, and other dancers, and coverage of the new ballets Scheherazade and Petrouchka. An illustrated article on "La maison des danseuses" includes drawings of ballerinas Anna Pavlova, Tamar Karsavina, and Lydia Lopokova. Further articles on opera, concerts, and the theatre are supplemented with many photographs, illustrations, and advertisements. 37 pp. (480-516) and 42 pp. (600-641). Some wear to the covers, the second issue with a few small tears and the cover detached; a few clippings have been removed inside; otherwise overall in very good to fine condition. 9.5 x 12.5 inches (21.7 x 31.7 cm).
15586. [Ballets Russes]. Original 1936–37 American Season Program
Original souvenir program from the 4th American season (1936–37) of Col. W. de Basil's Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo, featuring a striking color cover illustration of a knight by Natalia Gontcharova. The contents include photographs of stars and conductors including Leonine Massine, Lubov Tchernicheva, David Lichine, Antal Dorati, Efrem Kurts, and others; an 8-page color section with costume and set designs by Gontcharova, Cecil Beaton, Picasso, Leon Bakst, Raoul Dufy, and others; and a final 3-page section showing the dancers on tour—building sandcastles and engaging in various other more frivolous forms of entertainment. 64 pp. Wrapper detached from the block; edge wear to the cover; internally fine and overall in very good condition. 9.75 x 12.25 inches (24.5 x 31 cm). Read More...
15168. [Ballets Russes]. Comœdia Illustré No17: La Saison Russe a l'Opéra - June 1910 Special Issue
Revue Artistique bi-mensuelle - 2ème année - N°17 - 1er juin 1910. A fine example of the opulent special issue of the illustrated magazine devoted to the second Russian Ballets Russes season in Paris performed at the beautiful building of the Grand Opera, featuring illustrations by Leon Bakst and photographs of Nijinsky, Ida Rubinstein, Tamar Karsavina, Anna Pavlova, Michel Fokine, Catherine Gheltzer, Lubov Tchernicheva, Fokina and many others. The cover bears a striking costume design by Bakst, while the bound-in souvenir program shows Tamar Karsavina and Nijinsky in Sylphides. The 1910 repertoire of the Ballets Russes, listed on the first page, included L'Oiseau de Feu (in its first performance), Shéhérezade, Carnaval, Orientales, Giselle, Cléopatre, Les Sylphides, Le Festin, and Danses Polovtsiennes du 'Prince Igor," with music by Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Schumann, Borodin, and others. The season's troupe included Karsavina, Fedorova, Rubinstein, Fokine, Fokina, and Nijinsky and Nijinska (in their second season with the company). The program also includes many pages of decorative Parisian advertising. Read More...
A printed cotton tunic, designed by Leon Bakst in 1910 for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes' 'Schéhérazade', of rust-red and blue satinised cotton, printed with silver droplets and golden stripes, prestud fastened to neck, the hem edged in tousled silver braid. The costume for an aide-de-camp to Shahriar, the design illustrated in "The Art of Ballets Russes: The Serge Lifar Collection of Theater Designs, Costumes, and Paintings at the Wadsworth Atheneum" (Schouvaloff), p. 64. Provenance: Sotheby & Co, 3rd March, 1973, lot 52. Read More...
London: C.W. Beaumont. 1931. First edition. 8vo. 140 pp. including index and illustrations. Black cloth binding with gold decoration. 32 illustrations in b/w, preface by Andre Levinson. A few scuffs to boards, overall in fine condition. A very attractive copy of this important book by the eminent dance historian and critic.
Gouache and watercolor over pencil on paper laid down on board. Inscribed in Russian (upper left and lower left) and with a collector's stamp (lower right). 16.5 x 10.4 inches (41.9 x 26.4 cm). Matted and framed to 37 x 54 cm. Read More...
Zürich/Leipzig/Wien: Amalthea. 1927. First edition. Large 4to. 31 x 23 cm. 137 pp. plus illustrations (48 plates in color, 357 in black and white). Gold-stamped red cloth boards. Joints worn, spine extremeties chipped and faded, internally in very good condition throughout. Rare.
London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1930. First edition. An extraordinary association copy of the autobiography of Nijinsky's dance partner at the Ballets Russes, inscribed to the inheritor of her mantle, the great ballerina Alexandra Danilova. Her account of her early life at the Imperial Ballet School, and her subsequent career at the Marinsky Theatre and the Ballets Russes. 341 pp. Foreword by J. M. Barrie, plain photographic illustrations, publisher's green cloth, lettered gilt on the spine, inscribed on the front free endpage to Alexandra Danilova: "Dear Choura, whom I remember with love, Tamara." In good shape apart from a tear at the top of the spine and one photo plate page which is separated. Read More...
Paris: Manzi, Joyant, & Cie.. 1909. Special number of the Parisian cultural magazine, focusing on the 1911 season of the Ballets Russes. No. 298, Mai (II) 1911. The decorative cover features a color image of Tamar Karsavina as the Firebird; featured inside are more photographs from The Firebird, including a frontispiece with Michel Fokine and Alexis Boulgakov as the frightening Koschei; a set design for The Firebird by Leon Bakst; photographs of Nijinsky in Scheherezade, Sophie Fedorova in Cleopatra, Fokine and Fokina together in costume, and Ludmilla Schollar curtseying in a tutu; and further texts and photographs on the theatre and opera performances of the season. 24 pp. Front wrapper detached, with a large diagonal tear affecting the image, and heavy edge wear to the front and back wrappers; internally fine; overall good. 11 x 14 inches (27.5 x 35.3 cm). Read More...
Original program from a performance of the Russian Ballet (Ballets Russes) at Covent Garden on July 22, 1911. The program featured the legendary dancersTamar Karsavina and Nijinsky in some of their most celebrated roles, including Scheherezade, Le Pavillon d'Armide and Les Sylphides. 4 pp. One heavy vertical folding crease and some light soiling; overall in very good condition. 7.25 x 9.75 inches (18.5 x 24.5 cm).
An original 1916 souvenir program from the first American tour of the Ballet Russe, with full-color illustrations of costumes by Leon Bakst, photographs of the dancers, signed by principal dancers Adolph Bolm and Flore Revalles. Bolm has signed below a photograph of himself firing a bow as Prince Igor; Revalles has signed below a photograph of herself in an oriental costume and dated Baltimore, November 14, 1916. The program contains many full-color illustrations and photographs, including a photograph of Nijinsky in Spectre de la Rose and Bakst's Nijinsky as Faun, ballet descriptions, an itinerary, and 2 pages of ads. Pages are of thick ivory uncoated paper, cover is thick mottled grey paper, with embossed gold lettering and an attractive illustration of Nijinksy in Scheherezade. 36 pp. Heavy edge wear to the covers, which are detached from the pages; internally in very good condition overall. 9 x 12 inches (23.5 x 31.5 cm).
Opulent original program from a 8ieme Saison performance of the Ballets Russes at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées on May 17, 1913. In the newly opened theatre, just two weeks before the infamous premiere of The Rite of Spring, Diaghilev's celebrated company performed the popular ballets of the previous few seasons: L'Oiseau de Feu, Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un Faune, Le Spectre de la Rose, and Danses Polovtsiennes du "Prince Igor," to music by Stravinsky, Debussy, Weber, and Borodin. The orchestra was conducted by the young Pierre Monteux. Scenery and costumes were by Bakst, Golovine, and N. Roerich. The program, lavishly decorated with gold, includes portraits of the principal dancers (including Nijinsky, Nijinska Bolm, Karsavina), fashion plates, and stylish advertisements. The cover features a boldly colored image by Fyodor Fedorovsky of Koschei from The Firebird. Read More...
Paris: Manzi, Joyant & Cie. 1909. Special number of the Parisian cultural magazine, devoted to the Saison Russe of 1909. No. 249, Mai (I) 1909. The decorative cover features a color image of Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova in Le Pavillon d'Armide; featured inside are photographs of Feodor Chaliapin in Rimsky-Korsakov's Ivan the Terrible; Michel Fokine, Vera Fokina, Tamar Karsavina, Vera Karalli, Pavlova and Nijinsky, and other singers, actors, and dancers of the Russian companies; and set designs by Roerich and Golovine. 24 pp. Archival tape repairs to the spine and one corner; some light soiling and toning, with one small tear to the back wrapper; overall in fine condition. 11 x 14 inches (27.5 x 35.3 cm). Read More...
Paris: Manzi, Joyant, & Cie.. 1909. Special number of the Parisian cultural magazine, devoted to the Saison Russe of 1909. No. 249, Mai (I) 1909. The decorative cover features a color image of Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova in Le Pavillon d'Armide; featured inside are photographs of Feodor Chaliapin in Rimsky-Korsakov's Ivan the Terrible; Michel Fokine, Vera Fokina, Tamar Karsavina, Vera Karalli, Pavlova and Nijinsky, and other singers, actors, and dancers of the Russian companies; and set designs by Roerich and Golovine. 24 pp. Front wrapper detached with some edge wear; back wrapper lacking; internally in fine condition and overall very good. 11 x 14 inches (27.5 x 35.3 cm). Read More...
Profusely illustrated 1929 program for the Opera Privé de Paris production of “Prince Igor” by Borodine. 9.5 x 12.5 inches. 28 pp. Nine tipped-in color plates, including a portrait of its star singer, Maria Kousnetzoff; and, by Konstantin Korovine, six character costumes and two stage sets. The color cover is by J. Bilibine. Also included are full-page portraits of Madame Alexandra Balachova and of baritone Michel Benois, as well as many smaller photographs of other participants such as orchestra director Emil Cooper and choreographer-dancer Michel Fokine (who, a few years later, developed the famous Ballet based on Prince Igor). The center pages somewhat loose from the staples, edges slightly chipped, but complete and overall in very good condition. Read More...
Original program from a May 17, 1921 performance of the Ballets Russes at the Gaite Lyrique, Paris. The evening's program featured Stravinsky's L'Oiseau de Feu, the new ballet Chout (Le Bouffon) with music by Prokofiev and decor by Michel Larionov, a suite of traditional Spanish dances titled Cuadro Flamenco with decor and costumes by Picasso, and the company favorite Danses Polovtsiennes. The color cover features a group of female nudes by Picasso; the contents also include portraits of Stravinsky and Prokofiev by Picasso and Henri Matisse, as well as a two-page color spread of designs by Larionov for Chout, and portrait drawings by Juan Gris. [28] pp. Bound with staples and yellow cord. Some fading and wrinkling to the covers, with staples rusting and some internal smudging; overall in very good condition. 9.5 x 12.5 inches (24.5 x 32 cm). Read More...
Paris: M. de Brunoff, editeur, 32, rue Louis-le-Grand. [1909-21]. A beautiful bound volume of special issues and supplements to the Parisian theatrical periodical Comoedia Illustré chronicling the 1909–1921 seasons of the Ballets Russes, with many photographs and full-color illustrations relating to the legendary ballet company. A selection of souvenir programs (published as supplements to the magazine) and extracts from the magazine are arranged in chronological order; interspersed leaves with texts by V. Svetloff (Russian critic and biographer of Anna Pavlova) give further details of each year's productions. Ownership inscription of Osborne Robinson and exhibition loan details on front free endpaper, some marginal dust-soiling, original green silk-covered boards with pictorial inlay (from The Firebird) by Natalia Goncharova, rebacked in green morocco, modern cloth. Graphically interesting endpapers covered in the names of important Ballets Russes figures. Most pages unnumbered; over 200 pp. total. Four leaves with clipped and mounted prints and hand-written captions appear to be the addition of the previous owner, and are partially detached; binding otherwise sound. Binding somewhat sunned, with later restored spine and slipcase. Overall in fine condition. 10.25 x 13.5 inches (26 x 34 cm). Read More...
Two original documents from the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, signed in 1937 by all members of the company. The first item is a book of salary receipts documenting payments to the members of the company, signed multiple times by each performer. The book also contains a typewritten list of each member's monthly salary, dated Berlin, September 9, 1937. Also included is a typed document dated Hamburg, October 31, 1937, declaring that the members of the company are not taking any German currency out of Germany, signed by every member. Signatures include dancers Leon, Helene and Sonia Woizikowsky, Tamara and Anna Tchinarova, Ruth Chanova, Olga Valevska and Mona Dimidova, conductor Ivan Clayton, as well as the company's costume and set designers. Book with toning and edge wear, 6.5 x 8.25 inches (16.7 x 21 cm). Signed document with some edge tears and soiling, 8.25 x 11.5 inches (21 x 29.5 cm). Overall very good. Read More...
Drawing, graphite on cream wove paper mounted on board, monogrammed lower left "Bs," ca. 1968. 11 3/4 x 15 7/8 inches. Monnier, Balthus Catalogue Raisonné of the Complete Works, 1999, p. 343, number D 1173.
From the Estate of actor Tony Curtis, a collector of Balthus' works and a friend of the notoriously reclusive artist.