Property from a Private Collection

LÉON BAKST (RUSSIAN 1866-1924)
Costume Design for Potiphar's Wife, in La Légende de Joseph
signed BAKST (centre right)
gouache, watercolour and pastel, heightened with gold
34.1 x 27 cm (13 1/2 x 10 5/8 in)

PROVENANCE:
Isobel Watson (costume designer)
Private collection, London, a gift from the above in 1997
A gift from the above to the present owner in 2007

The lavish 1914 production La Légende de Joseph was first produced by Diaghilev's Ballet Russes in 1914 at the Théâtre national de l’Opéra. The music was composed and conducted by Richard Strauss, choreography by Michel Fokine, set designed by José-Maria Sert and costumes designed by Léon Bakst. Legend of Joseph was the début of the famous Russian ballet dancer Léonide Massine.

The production was set in the Venice portrayed by the 16th Century Italian artist Paolo Veronese. To inspire his costume designs Bakst visited Venice, and his suptuous Veronese designs with zoccoli and open-skirted costumes recall the Venetian clothing featured in the Italian Renaissance artist's pictures.