Research Catalog

Title

Casse-noisette [graphic].

Author

Benois, Alexandre, 1870-1960.

Publication

1940.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Beard, Richard.

Found In

Richard Park Beard collection.

Description

2 drawings : ink, watercolor, metallic pigment over graphite, color; 25 x 16 cm., on mount 34 x 26 cm. or smaller.

Summary

Costume designs. *MGZGA Ben A Nut 1 is labeled No. 16, Les invités, and depicts a full-length female figure, shown from the back. She is dressed in the style of the early nineteenth century, in a high-waisted dress with puffed sleeves and a knee-length skirt over a longer lace underskirt. She wears elbow-length white gloves and what appears to be a Phrygian cap, a former symbol of liberty that may be simply a fashion accessory here. *MGZGA Ben A Nut 2 is labeled N. 89, Trepak depicts the full-length figure of a woman in Russian folk costume with a kokoshnik or traditional headdress.

Alternative Title

Richard Park Beard collection. Graphics.

Subjects

• Costume design drawings
• Nutcracker (Choreographic work : Fedorova-Fokine, after Ivanov)
• Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo

Genre/Form

Costume design drawings.

Note

• The drawing labeled Les invités is signed: A. Benois.
• The drawing labeled Trepak is signed and dated: Alexandre Benois, VI 1940.
• Includes the designer's notations.

Source (note)

• Robert James Wood II

Biography (note)

• Casse-noisette is probably better known in the United States by its English title, The nutcracker. It has been produced in many versions by different choreographers, though most are danced to the score by Peter Tchaikovsky. These designs were made for the version choreographed by Alexandra Fedorovna-Fokine after Lev Ivanov, and staged by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in New York City in 1940. In his book The one and only: the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (1981), Jack Anderson describes how Benois's drawings, made in Paris, were brought by a long and circuitous route to New York.
• The Russian painter and stage designer Alexandre Benois played a pivotal role in ballet history. He is said to have sparked Serge Diaghilev's interest in ballet, and contributed to the formation and direction of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, which revitalized ballet in the early part of the century. He continued to design for the stage for many years after the Ballets Russes was disbanded in 1929.
• Richard Park Beard, 1925-2009, the former owner of this drawing, made his debut as a professional dancer with Ballet International in 1944, and subsequently danced with Ballet Theatre, Ballet Society, and the New York City Ballet. He also danced and choreographed for television and nightclub shows.

Linking Entry (note)

• Forms part of the Richard Park Beard collection. Graphics.

Call Number

*MGZGA Ben A Nut 1-2

OCLC

827279334

Author

Benois, Alexandre, 1870-1960.

Title

Casse-noisette [graphic].

Imprint

1940.

Biography

Casse-noisette is probably better known in the United States by its English title, The nutcracker. It has been produced in many versions by different choreographers, though most are danced to the score by Peter Tchaikovsky. These designs were made for the version choreographed by Alexandra Fedorovna-Fokine after Lev Ivanov, and staged by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in New York City in 1940. In his book The one and only: the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (1981), Jack Anderson describes how Benois's drawings, made in Paris, were brought by a long and circuitous route to New York.

The Russian painter and stage designer Alexandre Benois played a pivotal role in ballet history. He is said to have sparked Serge Diaghilev's interest in ballet, and contributed to the formation and direction of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, which revitalized ballet in the early part of the century. He continued to design for the stage for many years after the Ballets Russes was disbanded in 1929.

Richard Park Beard, 1925-2009, the former owner of this drawing, made his debut as a professional dancer with Ballet International in 1944, and subsequently danced with Ballet Theatre, Ballet Society, and the New York City Ballet. He also danced and choreographed for television and nightclub shows.

Linking Entry

Forms part of the Richard Park Beard collection. Graphics.

Local Note

Cataloging funds provided by Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Source

Gift; Robert James Wood II, 2010.

Added Author

Beard, Richard. Collector

Wood, Robert James. Donor

Added Title

Richard Park Beard collection. Graphics.

Found In:

Richard Park Beard collection.

Research Call Number

*MGZGA Ben A Nut 1-2