Lot Essay
The stage adaptation of Alexandre Dumas fils’ (1824-1895) eponymous novel La Dame aux Camélias [The Lady of the Camelias] premiered in 1852 at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris to great acclaim. The following year Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) used the plot for the libretto of one of his most famous operas – La traviata. Iurii Pimenov created several stage designs for an unrealised production of La Dame aux Camélias that was meant to take place at the Central Theatre of the Red Army in Moscow.