The V&A mini site for “The Golden Age of Ballets Russes” has now been loaded with photos, links and events. Ahead of the exhibition (opening 25 September 2010) we have been keeping up with their blog posts. While the press has been focusing on the frontcloth Two Women Running on the Beach (considered to be Picasso’s largest work on canvas) the staff at V&A reminds us of the magnificent proportions of Natalia Goncharova’s cloth for The Firebird:
Usually all the case building has to be completed before any objects are allowed in. However Diaghilev is an exception because there are two huge stage cloths which are so big they have to be installed first and the exhibition built around them The Firebird backcloth is 10x16m and probably the largest object in the V&A. It is exciting to see them being carefully unrolled and raised into position by the V&A’s skilled technicians and conservators.
For the full post including pictures of the Picasso and Goncharova cloths: visit the V&A Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes Blog
Diaghilev & the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes
[...] The exhibition captures the glamour and excitement of a revolutionary age in ballet, showing Sergei Diaghilev’s genius; his ambition and determination to generate entirely new ballets via key collaborations with the most avant-garde artists and to break up with ballet’s past conventions. Through its many galleries we witness how much each Ballets Russes work took up a large proportion of the company’s time and energy: inspiration boards, set designs, music sheets (new scores were commissioned for nearly half of Diaghilev’s ballets), memorabilia of legendary dancers, ornate souvenir programmes and posters, original costumes and even two magnificent stage cloths. [...]