William Kentridge (B. 1955)

William Kentridge often sketches aspects of his operatic works before and during the process of their performance. Given the centrality of drawing to his practice, these must also be considered stand-alone works. In the case of this work, we see Kentridge imagining the backdrop and stage for his 2005 interpretation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Because of the centrality of the stage as the framing device for Kentridge’s projection, many of the drawings related to this theatrical work, including this one, take it as their subject-matter.