Marc Chagall. (French, born Belarus. 1887-1985). Aleko and Zemphira by Moonlight. Study for backdrop for Scene I of the ballet Aleko. 1942. Gouache and pencil on paper, 15 1/8 x 22 1/2" (38.4 x 57.2 cm). Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. © 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
A new exhibit just opened at MoMA (haven’t had a chance to see it yet but I’ll be sure to let you know when I do - it runs through August 24h) which features drawings and designs for sets, and costumes as well as lighting and mood suggestions for stage performances over the last century. Featured artists include Marc Chagall, David Hockney, Fernand Léger, Diego Rivera, as well as dedicated costume and scenic designers.
From Artdaily.org:
MoMA’s commitment to stage pictures dates to 1939, when Lincoln Kirstein, a colleague of MoMA’s founding director Alfred H. Barr, Jr., and the eventual founder of the New York City Ballet, gave his personal collection of performance-related books and ephemera to the Museum, establishing a Dance Archives that would, for a brief period in the mid-1940s, become a separate curatorial department. Though the Museum’s Department of Dance and Theatre Design (later the Department of Theatre Arts) was short lived, the Museum continues to collect theater-related work today.
While the works in the exhibition vary in emphasis—from those with roots in folk traditions, machine aesthetics, or the mass media, to others that question the architecture of the stage, make abstract forms three-dimensional, or envision a total artwork on an epic scale—they all reflect a desire to create something new, to work across mediums, and to unify the arts.
The most focus is usually put on choreography in a dance performance (you are going to see “dance” after all), but a dance, opera or theater performance encompasses so many creative aspects into one artistic experience… music/sound, movement/choreography, set design/architecture, costumes/fashion, lighting, theater… I’d love to see more exhibits or events that highlight and feature the many unique talents that come together to create an overall performing arts experience.
It’s too bad NYCB isn’t doing Firebird (check out my earlier posts from 2006 with the Chagall sets and costumes - post 1, post 2, ) or Orpheus (design by Isamu Noguchi) this season… would be a really great opportunity to connect New York City Ballet performances with a MoMA exhibit.
(corrected: NYCB is doing Firebird this season, hmmm…)
