Accession Number
1948/1.225

Title
Costume for 'Coppelia' by Delibes: Franz

Artist(s)
Georg Kirsta

Artist Nationality
Russian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1929

Medium & Support
gouache heightened with gold on paper

Dimensions
12 1/8 in x 8 3/4 in (30.8 cm x 22.23 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Subject matter
Coppelia is a ballet by French composer Leo Delibes. It opened in Paris in May of 1870. It is a comical twist on E.T.A. Hoffman's 1816, "Der Sandmann", the character of Franz is the male lead in the ballet.

Georg Kirsta was a Russian painter and costume and set designer who worked for European theatres and ballet companies. After the Russian Revolution, Kirsta emigrated to Berlin, Germany and then to Vienna, Austria; in the late 1930s, Kirsta moved to London. Throughout Kirsta's career, he worked for Bronislava Nijinska, Hedy Pfundmayr, Grete Wiesenthal, Hilde Holger and Helene Tels; Kirsta also worked with the Metropolitan Ballet and the London Festival Ballet. In 1951, Kirsta organized a new Original Ballet Russe after the death of his associate, Wassily de Basil, who was the co-creator of Les Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo with George Balanchine. Kirsta had an integral role in the popularization of ballet across the world.

See also, Georg Kirsta
Set for 'Coppelia' by Delibes, Act II (1948/1.215)

Physical Description
This is a drawing of a costume design on an off-white background. A faceless outline of a standing male figure without hands or feet, dressed in pale yellow and knee-length pants with brown trim; he wears a tight-fitting v-neck blue shirt, and a dark brown jacket with off-white lapels.

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
Figures
Russian (culture or style)
ballets (performance events)
costume (mode of fashion)
costume design
costumes
dolls
figures (representations)
modern and contemporary art