After the first season of the Ballets Russes began in 1909, the world of ballet was never the same. Formed by Serge Pavlovich Diaghilev, Ballets Russes performances brought an avant-garde rethinking of classical and new ballets through the dances they performed and the artistic materials (sets, props, and costumes) used to tell these stories. No longer were productions reliant on symbolist thinking with simple backgrounds and ballerinas performing in stiff tutus. At a Ballets Russes production, colorful illustrations draped the stage, and costumes were equally eye-catching. They were often bejeweled, heavily embroidered, and/or graphically patterned. This attire channeled popular art movements of its time, including Art Nouveau and Russian Futurism, but they were also durable wares for the stage. “[The costume] wasn’t just designed to be beautiful,” explains the show’s guest curator, costume and dance historian Caroline Hamilton. “It had to work with the dancer, it had to move, it had to convey the story.” Those making these unforgettable designs were equally as enthralling; the company employed many talented artists and designers on the cusp of Western art and design, including famously Léon Bakst, Pablo Picasso, and fashion designer and financial patron of the company Coco Chanel, who made minimalistic costumes for a 1924 production of Le Train Bleu.
This era of transformative design and the people who crafted it are the subject of a recent exhibition at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, titled Women Artists of the Ballets Russes: Designing the Legacy. Upon entering the exhibition, visitors may feel as if they are backstage, surrounded by a vast collection of art and ephemera used in a Ballets Russes production: illustrated prints, set pieces, and even slippers and costumes worn by ballerinas. Much of the items on display were sold during a series of auctions at Sotheby’s in the 1960s and were dispersed across the world. McNay acquired some of this collection—including a mounted curtain originally used for the prologue of the opera-ballet Le Coq d’Or (The Golden Cockerel)—and now has these pieces displayed in the exhibition. Institutions, including those across the United States, Europe, and Australia, fill the show’s gaps with loans also purchased from the Sotheby’s collection. That Le Coq d’Or curtain has reunited with costumes from that same production, now owned by the Dansmuseet in Stockholm.
Although these objects are fascinating on their own, McNay uses their presence to tell the stories of women whose artistry helped make the Ballets Russes the iconic company it is today. “We’re trying to give voice to some of these incredible creatives and artists that were part of the whole production and often unseen,” Hamilton explains about the exhibition’s mission. The leads of the show include artist and designer Natalia Goncharova (1891–1962), who was one of the few women to design for the company. Like many in the Ballets Russes, Goncharova was a refugee from the Russian Revolution. She often incorporated her heritage into her stage and costume designs by intertwining Slavic peasant visual motifs with contemporary art.
Also in the spotlight is another Russian refugee and the only female choreographer at Ballets Russes, Bronislawa Nijinska (1891–1972). The choreographer’s last name may sound familiar to followers of dance history, as she was the sister of the famous male dancer, Nijinsky. However, Nijinska set ablaze her own path with her avant-garde choreography, which she originally developed while in Russia, in numerous Ballets Russes performances. She also trained some of the best American ballet dancers to perform in the twentieth century, including the iconic ballerina Maria Tallchief.
Museum, gift of the Tobin Endowment.
Also receiving a nod in the show is the French artist Sonia Delaunay (1895–1979). With her signature colorful geometric aesthetic, Delaunay crafted a set of unforgettable costumes and set designs for the 1918 production Cléopâtre. Clothing made by Russian-born artist and designer Aleksandra Ekster (1882–1949) is also on view, but unlike the other works in the exhibition, these designs were not made for the Ballet Russes. Rather, they were for a performance for a small company created by Nijinska, who was an often collaborator and friend of Ekster. The artist never worked for the Ballets Russes, but she was an active participant in the same social circles as the creatives employed by the company.
Unlike a typical ballet, Women Artist isn’t a touring production and is only on view at the McNay until January 12, 2025. For those who can make it to this special production, Hamilton hopes visitors will learn a new perspective of the Ballets Russes, to “look at some of these pieces in a different way…just get a different side to these pieces.”
Women Artists of the Ballets Russes: Designing the Legacy • McNay Art Museum • to January 12, 2025 • mcnayart.org
