Curtain design for "Le Diable s'amuse" (Devil's Holiday)

Eugene Gustavovitch Berman American, born Russia

Composer Related composer Vincenzo Tommasini Italian

Composer Related composer Niccolò Paganini Italian

1938

Not on view

Berman's drawing relates to Devil's Holiday (Le Diable s'amuse), a ballet premiered by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo on October 26, 1939 at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Sets and costumes were designed by Berman, with choreography by Frederick Ashton and music by Vincenzo Tommasini based on themes by Niccolò Paganini.
The artist here represents a proposed curtain as a draped sheet pinned to a wall. Its trompe l'oeil surface supports the image of a second wall layered with plaquards and posters, including a portrait of Paganini playing a violin–his name inscribed on an adjacent pink board. To the right there is an archway topped with a mask through which we see figures in an Italian piazza.

Artwork Details

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Provenance

References

Title: Curtain design for "Le Diable s'amuse" (Devil's Holiday)
Artist: Eugene Gustavovitch Berman (American (born Russia), St. Petersburg 1899–1972 Rome)
Composer: Related composer Vincenzo Tommasini (Italian, 1878–1950)
Composer: Related composer Niccolò Paganini (Italian, Genoa 1782–1840 Nice)
Date: 1938
Medium: Watercolor and gouache
Dimensions: sheet: 9 13/16 x 12 11/16 in. (24.9 x 32.3 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. Wesley Simpson, 1957
Object Number: 57.657.26
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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