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91
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Alexandre Nikolaïevitch BENOIS (Saint Petersburg, 1870 - Par…
See original version (French)
91
-
Alexandre Nikolaïevitch BENOIS (Saint Petersburg, 1870 - Par…
See original version (French)
Estimate €6,000 - €8,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Alexandre Nikolaïevitch BENOIS (Saint Petersburg, 1870 - Paris, 1960)
Project for a theatre set (1916)
Watercolour, ink and gouache on paper, signed and dated lower left in Cyrillic "Alexandre Benois 1916". Small tears and folds.
H. 31 x W. 56.8 cm.
History
This work by Alexandre Benois is part of his recurring imaginary of 18th century Europe. The representation of an Italian-style theatre, where the audience becomes a spectacle, combined with the presence of tricolour flags, clearly points towards an evocation of the French theatrical world.
While the hypothesis of a scenographic project for the repertoire of Beaumarchais or Molière is conceivable, the absence of any identifiable action suggests instead an autonomous composition, one of those 'theatrical fantasies' that Benois develops around aristocratic sociability. Produced in 1916, the work can thus be read as a retrospective and idealised vision of an Ancien Régime theatre, emblematic of the nostalgia cultivated by the artist.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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