VYACHESLAV PAKULIN (1901–1951) Costume design for an Auntie

Inscribed in Cyrillic ‘Tetushka’ (along the lower edge) 38.5 × 23.8 cm executed circa 1920s–1930s Pakulin began working as a theatre designer in 1918 and attended stage production courses organized by Vsevolod Meyerhold. During the 1920s he collaborated with several theatres, including Volnaya Komediya, Balaganchik, Krasny Putilovets, the Theatre of Satire, the First Artistic Studio and the theatre Klub. He designed the majority of productions staged by the Balaganchik theatre, including Babȳ, Virineya, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, The Descent of Hans into Hell, Passion, The Secret of Cassandra, The Impresario, The Gadfly and Love and Gold. A number of his theatrical designs are preserved in the collection of the Theatre Museum in St Petersburg.