Alexander Nikolaevich Benois SHROVETIDE FAIR

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Alexander Nikolaevich Benois
SHROVETIDE FAIR 
signed in Latin l.m.
watercolour and ink over pencil on paper
48 by 63.5cm, 19 by 25in.
Estimate 
 
60,000 — 80,000
 
GBP
 
LOT SOLD. 57,500 GBP 
Benois’ costume and set designs for Petrushka are among the most recognisable of all the Ballets Russes images. The first production performed by Diaghilev’s troupe in 1911 is considered by many as the climax of Benois’ career and he repeatedly revised and reworked these designs in later life. The present work is remarkable for its unusual sense of depth and has the air of a finished mise en scene rather than a more two-dimensional theatre design. It is Benois at his most fanciful, incorporating all the colour and the familiar set pieces of the production itself, together with the characterisation more often found in his more intimate and informal family sketchbooks. The little girl tugging at her father’s arm in the centre of the composition is a charming detail that brings to life this unusual version of Benois’ Shrovetide fair.

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