MIKHAIL LARIONOV (1881-1964) Curtain design for the ballet ‘Le Soleil de Nuit’ by Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Diaghilev’s production in 1915

inscribed ‘Larionov/ Coulisse pour Soleil de Minuit/ Mise en scène de Massine, 1ere présentation en Suisse 1915’ (on the reverse) gouache on paper 70 x 20 cm Provenance: Collection Alexandra Larionov-Tomiline (Artis’s widow) Private Collection Literature: Roger Fry, ‘M. Larionow and the Russian Ballet’, ‘The Burlington Magazine’, vol. XXXIV, no. XCXII, London March 1919, detail illustration p. 113; Léonide Massine, Richard Buckle, ‘Costumes and Curtains from Diaghilev & De Basil Ballets’, Sotheby & Co., London, 1969 Mikhail Larionov, ‘Diaghilev et les Ballets Russes’, La Bibliothèque des Arts, Paris, 1970. Dianne M. Ludman, ‘Mikhail Larionov: Designs for the Ballet ‘The Adventures of Karaguez’, Graduate School of the College of Visual and Performing Arts of Syracuse University, Syracuse, 1978 Anthony Parton, ‘Mikhail Larionov and the Russian Avant-Garde’, London 1993, p. 150-152 Joachim Homann, Lisa Lee, ‘Le coq d’or: Natalia Goncharova’s Design for the Ballets Russes [Harvard University Art Museums Gallery Series 39]’, Harvard University Art Museums Gallery Series, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2003. Exhibited: ‘Exposition des œuvres de Gotcharova et de Larionow. L’Art décoratif théâtral moderne’, Galerie Sauvage, Paris 1918, nos. 237-247; ‘Exposition des Œuvres de Gotcharova - Larionow,' Galerie Barbazanges, Paris 1919, nos. 177-194; ‘Les Ballets Russes de Serge de Diaghilev’, Ancienne Douane, Musées de Strasbourg, Strasbourg 1969, no. 232; ‘1909-1929. Les ballets russes de Diaghilev’, Centre Culturel du Marais, Paris, 1977-1978 The ballet ‘Soleil de Nuit’ (renamed Soleil de Minuit in 1918) is based on the opera Snegurochka (Snow Maiden) by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which is in turn based on the Russian fairy tale of the same name. In the story, the sun god Jarilo condemns Snegurochka, the child of the spring fairy and King Frost, to death by melting if she falls in love with a human. She would only live to see the next winter if she spent the summer in innocence. In a dramatic sequence of events, Snegurochka learns about love and dies. In July 1915, Mikhail Larionov arrived in Switzerland and was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev to design the costumes and set for the Ballets Russes production of Soleil de Nuit. He was also appointed supervisor of Léonide Massine, who was responsible for the choreography. Larionov suggested basing the choreography on Russian peasant dances. Folkloric elements also inspired Larionov’s exotic, neo-primitive designs for the ballet, which complemented the choreography. The complete work premiered at the Grand Théâtre de Genève on 20 December 1915 and at the Opéra de Paris on 29 December 1915.