Live Auction 10401Russian Art
Mstislav Dobuzhinsky (1875-1957)
Lot 22 PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN, NEW YORK

Mstislav Dobuzhinsky (1875-1957)

Set design for La Chauve-Souris: 'Song of the Black Hussars'

Closed30 November 2015

Price Realised

GBP 4,000

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Mstislav Dobuzhinsky (1875-1957)
Set design for La Chauve-Souris: 'Song of the Black Hussars'
signed twice 'M.Dobuzhinsky/M.Dobuzhinsky' (lower right) and further signed with monogram and dated '1928' (lower left)
pencil, watercolour and gouache on paper
16¼ x 20 1/8 in. (41.3 x 51 cm.)

Countess Alexandra Tolstoy (1884-1979) (inscription on the reverse).
A gift from the above to 'Doyle' during the White Russian Ball, Washington, D.C., 1947 (inscription on the backing paper).

Specialist note

Between 1926 and 1928 Msitslav Dobuzhinsky collaborated with Nikita Balieff’s (c.1877-1936) cabaret-theatre La Chauve-Souris in Paris, creating set and costume designs for the revue.
The present work depicts the Song of the Black Hussars, with music by Alexander Arkhangelsky (1846-1924). Performed at the Apollo theatre in Paris in 1928, this was one of the more popular tableaux presented by the troupe.