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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

Object Information
  • 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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