ALEXANDER KONSTANTINOVSKY (1906–1958) Costume design

signed and inscribed in Cyrillic ‘Konstantinovsky / S.V. Tolbin / Bez Vina / Rezh Iv. Pl. Chuzhy’ (on the reverse) watercolour on paper 42 x 19. 5 cm Alexander Iosifovich Konstantinovsky (1906–1958) was a graphic artist, illustrator and theatre designer. Born in Kiev, he studied at the VKhUTEIN in Moscow (1926–1930). From 1935 he worked in Leningrad, designing for major theatres, including the Pushkin Drama Theatre. He was awarded the title of Honoured Artist of the RSFSR in 1957. The present drawing is possibly a costume design for a production of Bez viny vinovatye [Guilty Without Guilt] by Alexander Ostrovsky, directed by Ivan Platonovich Chuzhoy. Chuzhoy was a director at the Leningrad Theatre of the Lenin Komsomol from 1935 and staged the play in 1938.