scheherazade

the story in diaghilev's ballet scheher- azade is found nowhere (and, perhaps, everywhere, in bits and pieces) in the collection of stories called the arabian nights. there are stories which include the characters named in the ballet, including, of course, scheherazade, who is the 'featured player' of the book, but beyond this, it's sketchy, but who cares? one view of that backbend is all the reason one needs.

as you can see, the production of the ballet has remained remarkably similar, including the costumes by bakst and the choreography by fokine. then, as now, the designs have had a great power in influencing fashion and style.

george barbier was so moved by the ballet that he created a series of drawings illuminating the performance, and paul poiret openly attributed his inspiration to bakst.

even now, i can easily see bakst as further motivation to galliano in his fall 2009 rtw collection. and not only galliano, but the whole world celebrates the ballets russes this year because, as of this month, it reaches its hundredth year.

much has been written, and much of that fascinating, about the simultaneous appearances of scheherazade, salome, salammbo, and other very sexual, very dangerous, women during the terrifyingly liberating time of the fin-de-ciecle. it will not be added to here.

instead we will simply exalt and congratulate the multitude of wondrous artists who came together at that time: diaghilev, nijinsky, cocteau and matisse, bakst, and balanchine, and rimsky-korsakoff, and stravinsky. there were chanel and braque and leger and derain and miro and rouault and picasso and utrillo and gontcharova and pavlova, and redon.

or better yet, go celebrate them yourselves:
in boston, london, stockholm, amsterdam, salt lake city, hamburg, paris, and many many more.

or read more in the new york times, from harvard, or everywhere in the world! the universe! or even further out! start here! or here.

if we want to analyse, i'm sure there'll be time. for now, dance.

addenda: • Ballets Russes and Western Couture

the galliano epic

while jean paul gaultier took inspiration from mucha in the past, it was the showy, the theatrical side of his work. in his fall, 2009, RTW collection, john galliano explores mucha's slavic roots.

mucha's slavic roots are being explored in a synchronistic manner around the world just now. there's galliano in paris, the first major mucha exhibition being held in vienna, and a fair amount of interest around the blogosphere.

the golden age of comic book stories blog presents mucha's slavic epic from the 1900 universal exhibition in paris. this is the same installation that is appearing in vienna. it fascinates me to watch poetry being translated into poetry.

olga's abc gallery offers a stunning selection of mucha's work, and susanna's sketchbook is filled with wonder upon wonder.

[Mucha} spent many years working on what he considered his fine art master- piece, The Slav Epic (Slovanská epopej), a series of twenty huge paintings depicting the history of the Czech and the Slavic peoples in general, bestowed to the city of Prague in 1928.

He had dreamt of completing a series such as this, a cele- bration of Slavic history, since he was young. Since 1963 the series has been on display in the chateau at Moravský Krumlov. 1

though mucha died of a nazi interro- gation, john galliano keeps him flourishing, as does the mucha museum in prague, and its related foundation, and the comprehensive compendium on the slav epic which is here.

the press may have labeled galliano's collection 'slav chic,' and perhaps that's all it is. but culture moves in mysterious ways... someone goes to mucha, his stories... and the journey of truth marches on.

what do they say to you?

and how do you re- spond?

klimt is cool

in the last post we looked at anna sui's wiener werkstatte- inspired fall/ winter 2008 collection with its strong klimt influence.


then i sort of accidentally began to realize that she was not the only one!






john galliano for dior, in his couture collection shown in paris in late january, the links to klimt are even more unmistakable.



some of the galliano gowns can almost be traced to specific klimt paintings.







but it does not stop with these two designers. though i couldn't see it (apparently using gold this season is enough for someone to write that your collection was inspired by klimt). in mexico, Jose Eduardo Trevino and Mauricio Ibinarriaga were credited thusly. and in new york, Proenza Schouler, and Erin Fetherston. like i said, i couldn't see it.

oscar de la renta's col- lection also was suppos- edly inspired by klimt. i can sorta see it. why, you might wonder, is klimt suddenly so hot? it suddenly struck me last night -- i think it's incontrovertible, despite the fact that i'm the only one i could find who is saying it.

klimt's painting of adele bloch- bauer caused more head- lines in the art world than anything else in 2007 -- and it was a really great story. that and the neue gallery's exhibition of that painting and other klimts was inspiration enough for anyone (even rami from project runway).
1
just as the influx of japanese artwork was enough inspiration for klimt some long generations ago.

japonisme and galliano

Dior brings Japonism- and Couture- back to Paris1

Amanda Gore in Designers, Luxury, Paris, Show Reports












The magnificent couture gowns sent down the runway by John Galliano for Dior yesterday had more than a slight flavour of geisha, as models with perfectly painted white faces were swathed in folds of rich fabrics and exotic colours in outfits intricately constructed of origami pleats, kimono jackets, obi belts, and Hokusai-inspired prints.






The highly extravagant and elaborate outfits showed that the skills of couture are still very much alive, and demanded poise and grace from the models.2


(gekko ogata; helen dryden)