Accession Number
1948/1.230

Title
Costume for 'Le Train Bleu' by Milhaud: 1. Les Gigolos

Artist(s)
Georg Kirsta

Artist Nationality
Russian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1930

Medium & Support
gouache heightened with gold on paper

Dimensions
12 1/8 in x 8 7/8 in (30.8 cm x 22.54 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Subject matter
The title of this ballet—The Blue Train—is based on a train that transported wealthy travelers from Paris to their seaside vacations in southern France, the Côte d’Azur. The costumes for this ballet were designed to reflect contemporary beachwear and sportswear.

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-  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.

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, is dressed in tight-fitting, high waisted blue shorts with a black waistband, and a tight-fitting short-sleeved white shirt with red horizontal stripes.

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
French (culture or style)
Russian (culture or style)
ballets (performance events)
bathing suits
beaches
costume (mode of fashion)
costume design
costumes
modern and contemporary art
passenger trains