Tempera on artist’s board
Italy, 1933
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Benois (1901-1988) – Russian stage designer, active in Italy since the 1920s
Inscribed lower left in Indian ink pen ‘GUIDO DEL POPOLO ATTO II’
Image size: 36.3 x 56.5 cm
Good condition
Provenance: Galleria dell’Orso, Milan (verso with gallery label); Prof. Dott. Arch. Tito B. Varisco, Milan (verso on the label with the owner’s stamp)
Design for a stage set for the opera Guido del Popolo, 2. Act, Teatro della Scala, Milano in the year 1933; similar works by Nikolai Aleksandrovich Benois fetch up to €15,000 on the international auction market

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Benois was in main parts responsible for the great successes of the opera and ballet productions of La Scala in Milan of the 1950s and 1960s. He was in a directing position for the stage and occasionally also the costume set at the theater for more than 30 years. In March 1933, the opera Guido del Popolo was premiering with the stage set by Benois. The present tempera drawing is a design for the second act of the opera. The drawing is in composition and colorfulness reminiscent of the Futurist tendencies that prevailed in Italy at the time. Many of the stage sketches by Benois are held by the Museum of La Scala today.



Condition:

The drawing shows minor losses of color in the lower white margin; aside from that the work is in very good condition and fresh in colors. The dimensions of the depiction are 36.3 x 56.5 cm, the cardboard measures 46.3 x 65 cm.



Nikolai Aleksandrovich Benois (1901-1988)

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Benois was trained by his father Alexandre Benois from an early age on, who was the scenographer and scenic director of the imperial Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Nikolai Aleksandrovich Benois also graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. He is one of the most well-known scenographers and costume designers, who has contributed in large parts to the successes of the production of the ‘Ballets Russes’ by Diaghilev in Paros and La Scala in Milan with Luchino Visconti. Many of his stage sets are exhibited in museums today. (tm)

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