EUGENE BERMAN (1899-1972)
"Juliet Nightgown." Costume design for the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" which premiered April 1943 at The New York Metropolitan Opera House, Ballet Theatre. Ink and gouache on paper. 317x230 mm; 12½x9 inches, sheet. Titled "Romeo & Juliet" in ink by Berman in top margin, captioned "Juliet Nightgown," initialed "E.B," and dated 1943 below figure along bottom. Cornered to original stiff paper mount; matted and framed. Provenance: collection of the artist; the Ness Oleson Trust. The late Frannie Ness and Gary Oleson were the proprietors of Waiting for Godot Books of Hadley, MA, which specialized in rare American and English books.The ballet, based on William Shakespeare's play with music by Prokofiev was orchestrated by Antal Dorati and Frederick Delius, and with choreography by Antony Tudor. "Tudor's interpretation of the ill-fated love story by William Shakespeare remains the only ballet version of Romeo and Juliet presented in one act. One of the most shocking memories of Romeo and Juliet is the fact that Tudor could not finish this forty-five minute epic by the date of the premiere. A finished version was presented four days after the premiere. Of note is the story of how the costumes and sets were designed: 'I originally wanted sets and costumes by Salvador Dali because I had conceived the décor in terms of Fra Angelico and Dali handles those notions very well. However Dali's ideas did not harmonize with mine.' Eugene Berman eventually was brought on and he designed the scenery and costumes by drawing inspiration from Renaissance paintings, notably by Botticelli. The designs were a success with both the audience and critics."-from The Ballets of Antony Tudor by Judith Chazin-Bennahum, antonytudor.org.