Set design for Shakespeare's Othello, Act 1

Subject William Shakespeare British
1930
Not on view
This print encapsulates Exter’s design for the opening scene of Shakespeare’s Othello and comes from a group of prints that distills her innovative ideas. As an influential modernist painter and stage designer, the artist moved between her native Russia, Germany, and France before settling in Paris, where she taught at the Académie de l’Art Moderne. In a radical new approach to staging, colored screens represent Venetian facades, and a spiral stair leads to a lightly indicated balcony outside the room where Desdemona’s father sleeps. Below, Iago and Rodrigo simulate a robbery to wake the senator so they may inform him that his daughter has eloped with Othello.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Set design for Shakespeare's Othello, Act 1
  • Series/Portfolio: Maquettes de Théâtre
  • Artist: Alexandra Exter (Russian, Belostok, Russia 1882–1949 Paris, France)
  • Publisher: Editions des Quatre Chemins (French)
  • Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
  • Published in: Paris
  • Date: 1930
  • Medium: Pochoir; from an edition of 160
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 13 × 19 15/16 in. (33 × 50.6 cm)
    Image: 9 1/16 × 11 5/8 in. (23 × 29.5 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Nikita D. Lobanov, 1970
  • Object Number: 1970.721.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.