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Art + Design
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- Sale 6375
Live
| Philadelphia
Aug 19 | 11:00 AM EDT
Live
| Philadelphia
Sale 6375
| Philadelphia
| Philadelphia
Estimate$2,000 – $3,000
Provenance:
Private Collection, New Jersey.
Note:
Alexander Pushkin’s The Golden Cockerel is a satirical fairy tale written in verse in 1834, later adapted into an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1909. The story follows the foolish and vain Tsar Dodon, who receives a magical golden cockerel from an astrologer to warn of danger. The cockerel proves useful, but when the tsar is seduced by the mysterious Queen of Shemakha and proposes marriage, chaos ensues. The tale ends in disaster: betrayal, death, and the cockerel’s eventual revenge, offering a sharp critique of autocracy, imperial arrogance, and the perils of unchecked desire.
This costume design by Natalia Goncharova, created in 1914 for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes production of The Golden Cockerel, likely relates to the wedding scene, which is a moment of pomp and spectacle just before the story’s unraveling. Rendered in vivid gouache and pencil, the sketch shows a richly adorned female figure in folkloric dress, her gown exploding with stylized floral patterns and folkloric motifs. The costume’s bold palette, ornate jewelry, and exaggerated silhouette reflect the celebratory tone of the wedding sequence, while also hinting at the excess and theatricality that Goncharova brought to the production.
Goncharova’s designs for The Golden Cockerel were instrumental in shaping the visual identity of the ballet. Drawing from Russian iconography, folk art, and modernist principles, she created a surreal, dreamlike aesthetic that heightened the opera’s fantastical themes. In this sketch, the costume’s fusion of peasant ornamentation and avant-garde color blocking mirrors the opera’s blending of fairy tale whimsy and sharp political allegory.
Framed: 31 x 26 inches.
The work is in overall good condition. The paper is toned and has some minor staining and discoloration, for instance at top right and bottom edge. There are a few tiny tears at the edges, no larger than 1/2 in. There are soft handling creases throughout. The paper is taped to a supporting sheet at top edge, and to the mat at one bottom corner. Some scattered spots of staining are also evident, for instance in the yellow of the skirt at bottom left. Additional images available upon request.
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