Costume Design for the Ballet "Les Biches" (The Does)
This largely abstract composition is one of Marie Laurencin's set and costume designs for the one-act ballet Les Biches (the Does). The Ballets Russes performance premiered in Monte Carlo on January 6, 1924 where it was received with great enthusiasm. During the summer of 1924, it was subsequently performed in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées as part of the festivities around the eighth Olympic Games. While already an established artist, Les Biches was Laurencin's first foray into theater. Her set and costume designs are characterized by a great sense of abstraction, here seen in the backdrop consisting of fields of grey and black, from which the silhouette of a deer emerges. In the foreground, two standing figures are depicted, which appear to be two out of the three female dancers, who are holding each other's hand.
Artwork Details
- Title: Costume Design for the Ballet "Les Biches" (The Does)
- Series/Portfolio: Bathroom
- Artist: Marie Laurencin (French, Paris 1883–1956 Paris)
- Date: ca. 1924
- Medium: Color lithograph
- Dimensions: H. 8-1/2 in. x W. 6 in.
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Bequest of Nanette B. Kelekian, 2020
- Object Number: 2021.28.7
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Marie Laurencin
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Marie Laurencin
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