MacDougall's Russian Art Auctions 8-9 June 2011
8 June 2011
471. RYNDIN, VADIM (1902-1974)
Costume Designs, three works, each signed, one with initials, one dated 1952, the others 1953, one further stamped "Sedaya devushka" on the reverse.
Pencil, black ink, watercolour and gouache on paper, one laid on cardboard, each measuring approximately 30 by 21 cm.
3,500-5,000 GBP
The costume designs now presented for auction were produced in the 1950s for the productions of Grey-Haired Girl (Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre, 1952) and Qu Yuan (Moscow Yermolova Theatre, 1954). Both productions were based on Chinese themes, Grey-Haired Girl on the legend of the Blessed White-Haired Maid, although the action of the drama was in fact transferred to the period of the Sino-Japanese war. As for the play Qu Yuan, this dealt with the tragic fate of the great 3rd-century B.C.E. Chinese poet of that name.
Ryndin's theatrical design work is consistently distinguished by its elegance, its stylistic precision and the economy of its artistic means. All these qualities can justly be applied to these sketches, which also feature a sensitive re-casting of Chinese folk motifs.
Vadim Fedorovich Ryndin (1902-1974) was a Soviet theatre designer, People's Artist of the USSR (1962), a full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1964) and winner of the USSR State Prize (1950). He was a member of the Makovets Association of Moscow Painters and of the Four Arts group (Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia). From 1965 he taught at the Surikov Moscow Art Institute.
He studied at the Voronezh Free Art Workshops (1918-1922) and at VKhUTEMAS (Higher Art and Technical Workshops) in Moscow (1922-1924). From 1920 he worked in theatre design, from 1925 with the title of designer and from 1931 to 1934 as head of design for the Moscow Chamber Theatre. After this Ryndin was head of design for the Vakhtangov Theatre (1935-1958) and the Bolshoi Theatre (1953-1974). For the Bolshoi Theatre he designed such ballet productions as Rachmaninoff 's Paganini (1960), Bartók's City of Night (1961), Khachaturian's Spartacus (1962) and Slonimsky's Icarus (1971), as well as operas including La Traviata by Verdi (1953), Mozart's Marriage of Figaro (1956), Verdi's Don Carlos (1963) and others.
Tatiana Klim
Notes on symbols:
* Indicates 5% Import Duty Charge applies.
Ω Indicates 20% Import Duty Charge applies.
§ Indicates Artist's Resale Right applies.
† Indicates Standard VAT scheme applies, and the rate of 20% VAT will be charged on both hammer price and premium.