Accession Number
1948/1.217

Title
Costume for 'Coppelia' by Delibes: Coppelia

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 22.2 cm);12 1/8 in x 8 3/4 in (30.8 cm x 22.23 cm);19 1/4 in x 14 1/4 in (48.9 cm x 36.2 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 "Der Sandmann" (1816). 

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 Metropolitain 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 vertical drawing is a costume design. The dress has a square neck, elbow-length sleeves, and a full, knee-length skirt. It is blue except for the right side of the torso and top of the hip which are black. A wide horizontal band of gold lattice appears on the left side of the skirt. 

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 designers
costumes
dolls
modern and contemporary art
scenographers