Design by Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois for a drop curtain for a 1925 Copenhagen production of the ballet “Petrushka.” Black ink with transparent and opaque watercolors on paper. Wadsworth Atheneum collection [1383×1024]
Design by Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois for a drop curtain for a 1925 Copenhagen production of the ballet “Petrushka.” Black ink with transparent and opaque watercolors on paper. Wadsworth Atheneum collection [1383×1024]
*Born in St. Petersburg into a prominent family of artists, Alexandre Benois was one of the first painters associated with the dance company Ballets Russes. From 1910–11, Benois created the sets and costumes for the ballet Petrushka, one of the greatest successes of the company, with music composed by Igor Stravinsky. This whimsical design for the front cloth shows grotesque creatures populating the sky of St. Petersburg with St. Isaac’s Cathedral in the background. The figures foreshadow the fate of Petrushka, >!who is famously killed at the end of the play!< during the carnival celebrations of 1830. Benois created this Design for a later production in Copenhagen.*
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[image source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Petrushka_drop_curtain.jpg)
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Wadsworth Atheneum, 1933.405
*Born in St. Petersburg into a prominent family of artists, Alexandre Benois was one of the first painters associated with the dance company Ballets Russes. From 1910–11, Benois created the sets and costumes for the ballet Petrushka, one of the greatest successes of the company, with music composed by Igor Stravinsky. This whimsical design for the front cloth shows grotesque creatures populating the sky of St. Petersburg with St. Isaac’s Cathedral in the background. The figures foreshadow the fate of Petrushka, >!who is famously killed at the end of the play!< during the carnival celebrations of 1830. Benois created this Design for a later production in Copenhagen.*