No. 169, October 2009

Selections from NDL Collection

Designs on the dances of Vaslav Nijinsky -Collection of illustrations of Ballets Russes-

Yuki Kanai
Humanities Division
Reference and Special Collections Department

This article is a translation of the article in Japanese of the same title in the NDL Monthly
Bulletin No. 579 (June 2009).

In the early 20th century, ballet was half forgotten as outdated entertainment in Western Europe. In that situation, Ballets Russes, the Russian Ballet Company, made a spectacular appearance. Even after ballet had declined in the late 19th century in the Western Europe, there remained a long cultural heritage of ballet under the imperial aegis Russia and ballet works such as 鉄leeping Beauty・and 鉄wan Lake,・which are now popular classics, were created there.

Adding a touch of the exotic (figure1, figure2) to Russian Ballet, which was at the highest level in the world at that time, Ballets Russes made an impact in audiences of Western Europe centering on Paris and was accepted by them with enthusiasm as a composite art, including colorful costumes, stage art and music. During their 20 years of activities, a galaxy of artists including Picasso, Matisse, Cocteau, Debussy and Chanel were contributed to their stage performance.

"Designs on the dances of Vaslav Nijinsky" is a collection with twelve illustrations of stage works in which Vaslav Njinsky, the main dancer of the ballet company during its early period, appeared. Based on the French version published in a limited edition in 1913 in Paris, a limited edition of 400 copies was published in London in the same year. The one held by the National Diet Library has the serial number "N°375."

George Barbier, the author, is known as a French illustrator representing Art Deco who illustrated many fashion graphics in high class fashion magazines such as "Gazette du Bon Ton," but he was also active in a wide range of fields including stage art and costume design for film and stage.

Although bright colors are characteristics of Barbier’s illustrations, only two or three colors are used and the color tone is subdued in this collection of illustrations. Instead of reproducing precisely the stage of Ballets Russes which was called "shower of colors," simple color and composition were used which make people recall strongly the actual stage. Figures 2 and 3, illustrate vividly Nijinsky’s aerial dynamism, often described as "never coming down from the air." These illustrations reenact his legendary dance more than any stage photographs that have come down to our time.

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Figure 3:"Spectre de la rose"

This collection of illustrations is included in the "Ashihara Collection" which consists of materials formaly owned by Eiryo Ashihara (1907-1981) who was known as a researcher and critic of ballet and chanson. This Collection includes many rare materials such as a performance program <NDL call no.: VA32-D2-21>, and block print collections of Ludwig Kainer and Nathalie Gontcharova <NDL call no.: VA32-D2-12, VA36-15>, which are materials related to Balletts Russes.

Ballets Russes had many ballets which are even now loved and performed by people all over the world, such as "Petrushka", a story of a puppet’s sad love (figure4). This collection of illustrations also intrigues us as a work with its modern taste although it is about a century since it was published.

Figure 4: Petrushka

George Barbier. Designs on the dances of Vaslav Nijinsky.
London, C. W. Beaumont 1913
< NDL call no.: VA31-N3-2 >

Reference

• Diagirefu no baree ryusu (Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes) (NDL call no.: KD382-G10)
• Barubie korekushon (Collection of Barbier) (NDL call no: KC482-E352)

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