#56
The backdrop for Mayakovsky's "Vladimir Mayakovsky. A Tragedy" was painted in cubo-futurist style by Iosif Shkolnik and Pavel Filonov. The backdrop depicts the modern city against whose alienating but exciting background the poet rebels.
#56
The backdrop for Mayakovsky's "Vladimir Mayakovsky. A Tragedy"
was painted in cubo-futurist style by Iosif Shkolnik and Pavel Filonov. The backdrop
depicts the modern city against whose alienating but exciting background the poet rebels.
#57
In 1916, Alexander Tairov staged Innokenty Annensky's tragedy
"Thamyris Kitharodos". The costumes and sets were designed by Alexandra Exter. Tairov
wished to present Annensky's play in as stripped down a version as possible, and his
success in doing so came in no small part from Exter's remarkable cubist set. Tairov
arranged his actors in sculpturally effective poses, akin to those of a corps de ballet, that
harmonized perfectly with the set, and he had a remarkable Thamyris in the talented
Georgian actor Nikolai Tseretelli. Exter's sketches for costume designs look extremely
elaborate, but, in their execution, they were fairly simple, barely covering the actors bodies.
Although color photographs are not available to illustrate this, the production was also
notable for its use of complicated colored lighting called for in the play.
#58
This is a maquette of Exter's cubist set for "Thamyris Kitharodos".
Although the technique had been used in painting and in sculpture for about 5 years, this
was the first time it had ever been applied to a stage set.
#58a
More designs and photographs from "Thamyris Kitharodos".
#59
Aristarkh Lentulov was a minor avant-garde artist who worked in a
variety of styles. This expressionist-inspired portrait of Alexander Tairov was done in
1919-20. This was just before Tairov began work on a series of constructivist productions,
and a few years after his collaboration with Alexandra Exter on "Thamyris Kytharodos".