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Costume for ‘Le Train Bleu’ by Milhaud: Championne de Tennis

Georg Kirsta

Artwork Details

Costume for ‘Le Train Bleu’ by Milhaud: Championne de Tennis
1930
Georg Kirsta
gouache heightened with gold on paper
12 1/8 in x 8 7/8 in (30.8 cm x 22.5 cm)
Museum Purchase
1948/1.241

Description

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/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 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 costume design shows a lithe young woman in a short-sleeved blue and white striped top and a high-waisted white, short skirt with blue hem and black criss-cross lacing moving vertically up from the hem, almost to the waist. She also wears a white and black cap or visor.

Usage Rights:

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