![LÉON SAMOILOVICH ROSENBERG [BAKST] (1866-1924)](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2001/NYR/2001_NYR_09760_0195_000(033840).jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
La Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Princess) was written by Ivan Vsevolozhskii and Marius Petipa after the story by Charles Perrault and the music by Peter Tchaikovskii, and was first performed by the Ballets Russes at the Alhambra Theatre in London, November 2, 1921.
"Bakst's designs for La Belle au Bois Dormant marked the culmination of his work on the Sleeping Princess theme. Earlier, in 1909, he had designed the Blue Bird pas de deux for the Belle au Bois Dormant, which was presented as "Coq d'Or" in Le Festin. Apparently, he designed new costumes for the two characters in this pas de deux in 1912 when it was presented as Princess Enchantée and in 1916 he designed for Anna Pavlova a shortened version of the ballet. In addition, Bakst painted murals for the Rothschild's depicting the Sleeping Princess fairy tale shortly before tackling Diaghilev's commission in 1921...
Designing the ballet was a monumental task involving the creation of five scenes and some three hundred costumes. Bakst's settings and costumes, which were to reflect the two contrasting epoques of Louis XIV and Louis XV, were based largely on seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century theatrical designs by such artists as Jean Berain, Jean-Baptiste Martin, Louis Boquet, and the Bibienas. Inherent in the story by Perrault is a clear-cut division between the two different types of characters in the ballet: members of the court and inhabitants of the fairy world. Bakst's costume designs similarly divide into two loose groups; those for the members of the court inspired by late seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century clothing types; and those for fairy characters, largely inspired by theatrical costume designs from the same period. Seeking historical accuracy, Bakst drew from the court of Versailles, the dresses of Vienna, and the masques of classical ballet..." London, The Fine Art Society, Bakst, (1976) pgs. 38-39
"Bakst's designs for La Belle au Bois Dormant marked the culmination of his work on the Sleeping Princess theme. Earlier, in 1909, he had designed the Blue Bird pas de deux for the Belle au Bois Dormant, which was presented as "Coq d'Or" in Le Festin. Apparently, he designed new costumes for the two characters in this pas de deux in 1912 when it was presented as Princess Enchantée and in 1916 he designed for Anna Pavlova a shortened version of the ballet. In addition, Bakst painted murals for the Rothschild's depicting the Sleeping Princess fairy tale shortly before tackling Diaghilev's commission in 1921...
Designing the ballet was a monumental task involving the creation of five scenes and some three hundred costumes. Bakst's settings and costumes, which were to reflect the two contrasting epoques of Louis XIV and Louis XV, were based largely on seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century theatrical designs by such artists as Jean Berain, Jean-Baptiste Martin, Louis Boquet, and the Bibienas. Inherent in the story by Perrault is a clear-cut division between the two different types of characters in the ballet: members of the court and inhabitants of the fairy world. Bakst's costume designs similarly divide into two loose groups; those for the members of the court inspired by late seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century clothing types; and those for fairy characters, largely inspired by theatrical costume designs from the same period. Seeking historical accuracy, Bakst drew from the court of Versailles, the dresses of Vienna, and the masques of classical ballet..." London, The Fine Art Society, Bakst, (1976) pgs. 38-39