![[Ballets Russes] Bakst, Léon. (1866–1924) [Fokine, Michel. (1880–1942)] "Woman in a Victorian Costume" - Design from "Papillons"](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/Bakst_Leon_Woman_in_a_Victorian_Costume_Papillons_Design_20049a.jpg?v=1722190001)
![[Ballets Russes] Bakst, Léon. (1866–1924) [Fokine, Michel. (1880–1942)] "Woman in a Victorian Costume" - Design from "Papillons"](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/Bakst_Leon_Woman_in_a_Victorian_Costume_Papillons_Design_20049b.jpg?v=1722190001)
[Ballets Russes] Bakst, Léon. (1866–1924) [Fokine, Michel. (1880–1942)]. "Woman in a Victorian Costume" - Design from "Papillons".
Charcoal and gouache on paper design for a costume from the original Ballets Russes production of Papillons, ca. 1914. This drawing presents a standing female figure in a skirt of yellow base layered sections of green and light blue, the head adorned with a grey-blue bonnet with descending transparent shawl, and the arms delicately poised, with one hand resting under the chin. The artist has signed to lower right. Light toning and foxing, else in fine condition. Sight 10.25 x 13 inches (26 x 33 cm.); framed to 16.25 x 20 inches (41.3 x 50.8 cm.).
Set to music by Robert Schumann and orchestrated by Nicholas Tcherepnine with libretto by Fokine and costumes by Léon Bakst, "Papillons" was originally created for a charity performance at the Maryinsky, St Petersburg 23 February 1912 then taken into the repertory of the Imperial Ballet in October. The work was revived for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1914 when Fokine returned to the company for one year, following the dismissal of Nijinsky, and it was premiered at the Théâtre de Monte-Carlo on 16 April 1914. The designs for this ballet marked the end of a break of almost two years in which Bakst stopped collaborating with Diaghilev. Although Bakst was recognized for the orientalist inspiration and a sensational style which by 1914 had become an essential part of the Ballet Russes and the modern ballet scene in Paris, the designs for this ballet in the Beidermere-style of Carnaval were much more pared down, with a subtler use of color and a less sensuous line of the body.
Cyril Beaumont wrote that "Papillons is a charming ingenious composition, delicate as a butterfly’s wings. The groups, the miming, the pas de deux, and the scene of death and reanimation of the butterfly are full of poetry and tender lyricism characteristic of Fokine’s work in this vein, but the impression afforded is slight and the piece naturally suffers from being a repetition of style." The focus in the ballet was on the young girls and Pierrot but at the end other characters, chaperons and servants, appeared to see the girls home.
[Ballets Russes] Bakst, Léon. (1866–1924) [Fokine, Michel. (1880–1942)]. "Woman in a Victorian Costume" - Design from "Papillons".
Charcoal and gouache on paper design for a costume from the original Ballets Russes production of Papillons, ca. 1914. This drawing presents a standing female figure in a skirt of yellow base layered sections of green and light blue, the head adorned with a grey-blue bonnet with descending transparent shawl, and the arms delicately poised, with one hand resting under the chin. The artist has signed to lower right. Light toning and foxing, else in fine condition. Sight 10.25 x 13 inches (26 x 33 cm.); framed to 16.25 x 20 inches (41.3 x 50.8 cm.).
Set to music by Robert Schumann and orchestrated by Nicholas Tcherepnine with libretto by Fokine and costumes by Léon Bakst, "Papillons" was originally created for a charity performance at the Maryinsky, St Petersburg 23 February 1912 then taken into the repertory of the Imperial Ballet in October. The work was revived for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1914 when Fokine returned to the company for one year, following the dismissal of Nijinsky, and it was premiered at the Théâtre de Monte-Carlo on 16 April 1914. The designs for this ballet marked the end of a break of almost two years in which Bakst stopped collaborating with Diaghilev. Although Bakst was recognized for the orientalist inspiration and a sensational style which by 1914 had become an essential part of the Ballet Russes and the modern ballet scene in Paris, the designs for this ballet in the Beidermere-style of Carnaval were much more pared down, with a subtler use of color and a less sensuous line of the body.
Cyril Beaumont wrote that "Papillons is a charming ingenious composition, delicate as a butterfly’s wings. The groups, the miming, the pas de deux, and the scene of death and reanimation of the butterfly are full of poetry and tender lyricism characteristic of Fokine’s work in this vein, but the impression afforded is slight and the piece naturally suffers from being a repetition of style." The focus in the ballet was on the young girls and Pierrot but at the end other characters, chaperons and servants, appeared to see the girls home.