Title:
Costume Design for a Woman from the Village, for the Ballet 'Daphnis and Chloé', performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, 1912
Caption:
Costume Design for a Woman from the Village, for the Ballet 'Daphnis and Chloé', performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, 1912. Artist: Léon Bakst (Russian, Grodno 1866-1924 Paris). Dimensions: Sheet: 10 1/4 × 8 1/2 in. (26 × 21.6 cm). Date: [1912].
Drawing with a costume design for a woman from the village, for the ballet 'Daphnis and Chloé,' by Léon Bakst. This ballet by Fokine was first performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 1912, as part of the repertoire of the Ballets Russes for the season. The costume designs for the ballet were inspired on Ancient Greece, and Bakst drew inspiration from ancient vases, both for the costumes and the poses and movements of dancers. As with orientalisms, the inspiration on Ancient Greece was recurring during Bakst's design career, and he returned to it towards the end of his life. Daphnis and Chloé, however, was only his first exploration of the style, and although the designs for costumes seem to have been praised by the public of the time, they might have been disconnected from the stage set design.
This drawing presents a woman, standing with her arms open to the sides, wearing a cape-like dress, made up of brownish-green fabric with black roundels filled with blue rosettes of four petaloids, over a long, narrow, pleated skirt colored with yellow and with small, black and white eye shapes. The hair is tied into long, thin braids, and decorated with a thin, white band, tied around the head.