Nikolai Benois (1901-1988)
Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's… Read more PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
Nikolai Benois (1901-1988)

Stage design for 'The Legend of the invisible city of Kitezh'

Details
Nikolai Benois (1901-1988)
Stage design for 'The Legend of the invisible city of Kitezh'
inscribed in Russian, signed in Cyrillic and dated 'Teatro alla Scala/1935/Nikolai/Benya/Legend of the city of Kitezh' (on the reverse)
ink, gouache and tempera on paper
19¼ x 25¼ in. (49 x 63.5 cm.)
Provenance
Acquired by the present owner in New York circa 1985.
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. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Aleksandra Babenko
Aleksandra Babenko

Lot Essay

Nikolai Benois became the principal scenographer at the Teatro alla Scala in 1935 and worked on hundreds of productions at the famous Milan theatre until 1970.
The present work, executed during Benois's inaugural year at la Scala, is a set design for Rimsky-Korsakov's opera, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, based on ancient Russian legends, with an admixture of supernatural elements. This exquisite design, exploding with colour and movement is most likely a depiction of the opening of the second act, where the inhabitants of Little Kitezh are gathering to celebrate the wedding of the maiden Fevronia, the protagonist of the opera.

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