{"id":342,"date":"2021-07-22T15:23:32","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T15:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/?p=342"},"modified":"2021-07-22T15:29:44","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T15:29:44","slug":"costumes-of-the-ballets-russes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/costumes-of-the-ballets-russes\/","title":{"rendered":"Costumes of The Ballets Russes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes: When Art Danced With Music<\/strong>\u00a0exhibit, currently on display at\u00a0The National Gallery of Art<\/strong>, captures the wonder of an influential team of artists that changed the course of fashion and the performing arts in the early part of the 20th Century.<\/p>\n

Serge Diaghilev, Russian art patron and business man, created and ran the Parisian dance troupe from 1909-1929. Diaghilev aggressively courted some of the greatest European designers, painters, composers and dancers of the time.\u00a0 It is through collaboration with these exceptionally talented artists that the Ballets Russes would change the landscape of dance and influence a century of design.<\/p>\n

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Leon Bakst costume rendering for\u00a0The Afternoon Of A Faun<\/em>\u00a0(1912).\u00a0[Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

The 19th Century ballet world was one of simplicity and romanticism, where classical choreography and traditional costuming had become the norm.\u00a0 Diaghilev challenged this perspective by introducing Parisian theatre-goers to highly athletic Russian dancers and wildly colorful sets and costumes that were heavily influenced by the Ancient East and abstract, cubist, and surrealist art.<\/p>\n

The group of costume designers that Diaghilev recruited were all highly creative artists, already making a name for themselves as either painters or fashion designers, many of which have become household names even outside of theatre circles.\u00a0 Artists like Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and fashion designer Coco Chanel are just a few influential designers whose costumes are featured in the exhibit.<\/p>\n

Leon Bakst<\/strong>\u00a0was one of Diaghilev\u2019s early collaborators.\u00a0 His opulent set and costume designs utilized rich color, elaborate pattern, and a strong Eastern and folk influence.\u00a0 His bold designs for the production of\u00a0Scheherazade<\/em>\u00a0(1911) featured a wonderful mix of sheers, patterns, and exotic silhouettes that proved an exciting and rather racy combination.\u00a0 Costumes that placed low, hip-hugging emphasis on female dancers and included bifurcated garments were quite a departure from the heavily corseted bodices and long tutus Parisian audiences had become accustomed to seeing.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by Leon Bakst,\u00a0Scheherazade<\/em>\u00a0(1911). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

The costumes from\u00a0The Afternoon Of A Faun<\/em>\u00a0(1912) are some of the most iconic by Bakst.\u00a0 The Faun\u2019s costume rendering (which beautifully graces most of the promotional material for the exhibit, pictured above) shows off Bakst\u2019s mastery of the human form and beautiful use of color.\u00a0 The costume itself is a simple unitard with patches of color, accompanied by an exquisite scarf.\u00a0 The costumes for the Nymphs for the same production are a stunning mix of hand painted sheer silk layered over pleated silver lam\u00e9.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by Leon Bakst,\u00a0The Afternoon Of A Faun\u00a0<\/em>(1911). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

Bakst\u2019s costume design for\u00a0The Blue God<\/em>\u00a0(1912) featured wonderfully elaborate patterns and ornate embroidery that created a kaleidoscope of color on stage. He beautifully combined Indian and Cambodian inspired clothing and headdresses.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by Leon Bakst,\u00a0The Blue God\u00a0<\/em>(1912).\u00a0Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by Leon Bakst,\u00a0The Blue God\u00a0<\/em>(1912).\u00a0Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

Below you can begin to see the interrelationship of costume and fashion as they each seem to be inspiring one another both in shape and decoration.<\/p>\n

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Left: Costume Design by Leon Bakst,\u00a0The Blue God\u00a0<\/em>(1912). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, The National Gallery of Art] Right: Fancy Dress Costume by Paul Poiret, 1911. [Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art] (Comparison by Jon Frederick, Fashion and The Ballets Russes: Costumes For A Modern World. NGA)<\/p>\n

In the early years, Diaghilev also recruited Russian painter and art preservation activist\u00a0Nicholas Roerich\u00a0<\/strong>to design for The Ballets Russes.\u00a0Roerich\u2019s costume design for\u00a0Prince Igor<\/em>\u00a0(1909) featured loosely fit garments for men made of gorgeously patterned Uzbekistan fabrics.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by Nicholas Roerich,\u00a0Prince Igor\u00a0<\/em>(1909). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

Roerich\u2019s designs for\u00a0The Rite of Spring<\/em>\u00a0(1913), featured flat, geometric shapes created through labor-intensive resist dyeing and hand-painting.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by Nicholas Roerich,\u00a0The Rite of Spring\u00a0<\/em>(1913). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

Diaghilev drew upon the incredible talents of progressive Russian painters\u00a0Mikhail Larionov<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Natalia Goncharova<\/strong>\u00a0to design beautifully elaborate costumes.\u00a0 Through their productions they combined elements of cubism and traditional Russian folk art to create ground-breaking shapes for dance. Larionov\u2019s costume design for\u00a0The Tale of The Buffoon<\/em>\u00a0(1921) featured sculptural pieces achieved through the use of heavy felt, padding, and cane.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by\u00a0Mikhail Larionov,\u00a0The Tale of The Buffoon<\/em>\u00a0(1921). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

Goncharova\u2019s costume design for underwater tale\u00a0Sadko<\/em>\u00a0(1916) are among the most beautiful pieces in the entire exhibit.\u00a0 Exquisite sea creatures are created through the use of hand-painted silks, wire shaped headpieces & tails, appliqu\u00e9s, and ombre fins.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by\u00a0Natalia Goncharova,\u00a0Sadko<\/em>\u00a0(1916). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/div>\n

Pablo Picasso<\/strong>, Spanish cubist artist, contributed to the legacy of the Ballets Russes with design for both set and costume design.\u00a0 His design for the Chinese Conjurer from\u00a0Parade<\/em>\u00a0(1917) makes wonderful use of contrasting silk and hand stitched threads on clouds that create an incredible sense of depth, like cross hatch shading.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by\u00a0Pablo Picasso,\u00a0Parade<\/em>\u00a0(1917). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

French painter\u00a0Henri Mattisse<\/strong>\u2019s use of shape and contrast to create beautifully minimalist patterns was put to good use when he designed the costumes for\u00a0The Song of The Nightingale\u00a0<\/em>(1920).<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by\u00a0Henri Mattisee,\u00a0The Song of The Nightingale<\/em>\u00a0(1920). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

Many of the Ballets Russes\u2019 costume designers also made significant contributions to fashion design of the early 20th Century.\u00a0\u00a0Sonia Delaunay<\/strong>, famed Orphism painter and textile artist, created the graphic and provocative designs for\u00a0Cleopatra<\/em>\u00a0(1918). The iconic costume designed for the title character was not featured in the original exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum, but to the delight of visitors is on display at the National Gallery of Art, on loan from Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The costume features geometric quilting, heavy beading, and mirrored inlay.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by\u00a0Sonia Delaunay,\u00a0Cleopatra<\/em>\u00a0(1918). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art. Los Angeles County Museum of Art]<\/p>\n

Below you can see similar geometric detailing utilized by Delaunay in her fashion designs.<\/p>\n

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Fashion coats by Sonia Delaunay, 1920s.<\/p>\n

One of the simplest, yet most exciting set of costumes to see in the exhibit are those designed for\u00a0The Blue Train<\/em>\u00a0(1924) by Ballets Russes\u2019 patron and famed couturier\u00a0Coco Chanel<\/strong>.\u00a0 The costumes are a pair of knit bathing costumes that could easily be mistaken for 1920s sportswear. The simple cut of the man\u2019s costume, complexity of colored knit of the woman\u2019s costume, and the realization that you are gazing at items that Chanel herself would have fit on dancers is an incredible experience.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by\u00a0Coco Chanel,\u00a0The Blue Train<\/em>\u00a0(1924). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

Chanel’s iconic minimalist aesthetic is just as evident in her costume design as it was in her fashion design.<\/p>\n

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Jersey sportswear, Chanel 1920s.<\/p>\n

By far the most avant-garde costumes of the exhibit are those designed by\u00a0Giorgio de Chirico<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Pavel Tchelitchev<\/strong>. De Chirico, the Italian painter who wildly influenced the surrealist movement designed fantastically architectural costumes for\u00a0The Ball<\/em>\u00a0(1929), featuring brick wall, column, and arch graphic motifs.\u00a0 The use of black outlining to create pieces such as the whimsical column cravat would have been just as stunning from stage as they are up-close.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by\u00a0Giorgio de Chirico,\u00a0The Ball<\/em>\u00a0(1929). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

The Russian surrealist painter Tchelitchev\u2019s breathtaking set and costume design for\u00a0Ode<\/em>\u00a0(1928) beautifully depicted the movement of the constellations. Comprised of male dancers manipulating a system of wires, and female dancers dressed gorgeously as stars, these costumes are an early example of the use of artificial silk, ornamented with cellulous nitrate decorations, black hoods, and fencing masks.<\/p>\n

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Costume Design by\u00a0Pavel Tchelitchev,\u00a0Ode<\/em>\u00a0(1928). [Credit:\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,\u00a0The National Gallery of Art]<\/p>\n

The work of the various designers of the Ballets Russes remain some of the most iconic costumes of the 20th Century and have served as inspiration for many costume and fashion designers since. The exhibit also consists of many set & costume renderings, as well as large theatrical backdrops.\u00a0 For the fashion, clothing, or theatre enthusiast, this exhibit is a must see, but those outside of these fields will find much to ogle and by which to be inspired!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes: When Art Danced With Music\u00a0exhibit, currently on display at\u00a0The National Gallery of Art, captures the wonder of an influential team of artists that changed the course of fashion and the performing arts in the early part of the 20th Century. Serge Diaghilev, Russian art patron and business man, created and … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyrannyofstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}