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Lot Essay
Boris Anisfeld was one of the most inventive and audacious Russian artists of the first half of the 20th Century. His technical skills, strong sense 0f colour and vivid imagination had a deep and long-lasting artistic influence on both painting and theatre design.
While not an official member of the World of Art group, Anisfeld shared many of its aesthetic principles and was among the theatre designers whose creativity and artistic talents greatly contributed to the tremendous and overwhelming success of Ballet Russe productions in Paris. Anisfeld's international debut was orchestrated by Sergei Diagilev, who invited the young artist to take part in the Russian Art Section of the 1906 Salon d'Automne in Paris. Anisfeld's works received favorable attention and led to opportunities to design for the stage. His innovative and bold use of color and the striking originality of his stage costumes and sets aimed to create a emotional response as well as aesthetic impression, and were praised by the critics and theatergoers alike.
It was during these formative years, working for the Diagilev production company, that the artist first met Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), the legendary Russian ballerina. In 1912, when some of the major choreographers and dancers left to establish their own companies, Anisfeld continued his collaboration with many of them. Among his successful projects were designs for the Berlin debut of Anna Pavlova's company in Seven Daughters of the Mountain King and Les Preludes. Two years later, when the famous ballerina brought her production to the Manhattan Opera House, it was Anisfeld's extraordinary stage design that astonished and captivated New Yorkers.
Over the years the professional collaboration between the artist and the famous dancer grew into a strong friendship. Boris Anisfeld's daughter, Marochka Chatfield-Taylor, later recalled that her parents and Anna Pavlova were very close and loyal friends and often visited the famous dancer at her home in London (Paintings by Boris Anisfeld, November 28, 1979-January 12, 1980, Exhibition at A.M. Adler Fine Arts Inc, 1979, p. 3). The current work, painted several years after Pavlova's death, is Anisfeld's tribute to the artistry of this legendary dancer in her most famous role. Pavlova was already an acclaimed ballerina when in 1905 she collaborated with choreographer Mikhail Fokine to create her famous solo ballet The Dying Swan. Inspired by the poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson and accompanied by the thirteenth movement of The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns, the dance became her most legendary role and her personal emblem.
Anisfeld depicted Anna Pavlova in the final moment of the dance in a seated pose with one leg outstretched and her fragile body folded over it, her torso bent expressively, arms extended in a soft-elbowed birdlike fluttering as the Swan was gracefully expiring. Anisfeld succeeded in capturing Pavlova's infinite fineness, delicacy and emotional vulnerability. Anna Pavlova, who was once called by a critic 'the embodiment of emotion saturated by form and of form saturated by emotions' is celebrated in this work by the artist, who painted what he felt and whose artistic credo was to express intense emotions through the medium of painting.
A small watercolour with an identical subject was executed by Anisfeld in 1930 and was exhibited on several occasions (Janet Flint, Boris Anisfeld, Twenty years of Designs for the Theater, Washington, DC, 1971, fig. 84; Boris Anisfeld, 1879-1973, Gilman Galleries, 1982, p. 9) and an oil painting sharing an identical title but of slightly smaller dimensions is known to exist (Boris Anisfeld, Retrospective exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, May 8 - June 8, 1958, fig. 60).
While not an official member of the World of Art group, Anisfeld shared many of its aesthetic principles and was among the theatre designers whose creativity and artistic talents greatly contributed to the tremendous and overwhelming success of Ballet Russe productions in Paris. Anisfeld's international debut was orchestrated by Sergei Diagilev, who invited the young artist to take part in the Russian Art Section of the 1906 Salon d'Automne in Paris. Anisfeld's works received favorable attention and led to opportunities to design for the stage. His innovative and bold use of color and the striking originality of his stage costumes and sets aimed to create a emotional response as well as aesthetic impression, and were praised by the critics and theatergoers alike.
It was during these formative years, working for the Diagilev production company, that the artist first met Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), the legendary Russian ballerina. In 1912, when some of the major choreographers and dancers left to establish their own companies, Anisfeld continued his collaboration with many of them. Among his successful projects were designs for the Berlin debut of Anna Pavlova's company in Seven Daughters of the Mountain King and Les Preludes. Two years later, when the famous ballerina brought her production to the Manhattan Opera House, it was Anisfeld's extraordinary stage design that astonished and captivated New Yorkers.
Over the years the professional collaboration between the artist and the famous dancer grew into a strong friendship. Boris Anisfeld's daughter, Marochka Chatfield-Taylor, later recalled that her parents and Anna Pavlova were very close and loyal friends and often visited the famous dancer at her home in London (Paintings by Boris Anisfeld, November 28, 1979-January 12, 1980, Exhibition at A.M. Adler Fine Arts Inc, 1979, p. 3). The current work, painted several years after Pavlova's death, is Anisfeld's tribute to the artistry of this legendary dancer in her most famous role. Pavlova was already an acclaimed ballerina when in 1905 she collaborated with choreographer Mikhail Fokine to create her famous solo ballet The Dying Swan. Inspired by the poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson and accompanied by the thirteenth movement of The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns, the dance became her most legendary role and her personal emblem.
Anisfeld depicted Anna Pavlova in the final moment of the dance in a seated pose with one leg outstretched and her fragile body folded over it, her torso bent expressively, arms extended in a soft-elbowed birdlike fluttering as the Swan was gracefully expiring. Anisfeld succeeded in capturing Pavlova's infinite fineness, delicacy and emotional vulnerability. Anna Pavlova, who was once called by a critic 'the embodiment of emotion saturated by form and of form saturated by emotions' is celebrated in this work by the artist, who painted what he felt and whose artistic credo was to express intense emotions through the medium of painting.
A small watercolour with an identical subject was executed by Anisfeld in 1930 and was exhibited on several occasions (Janet Flint, Boris Anisfeld, Twenty years of Designs for the Theater, Washington, DC, 1971, fig. 84; Boris Anisfeld, 1879-1973, Gilman Galleries, 1982, p. 9) and an oil painting sharing an identical title but of slightly smaller dimensions is known to exist (Boris Anisfeld, Retrospective exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, May 8 - June 8, 1958, fig. 60).