Chiparus & the Ballets Russes: Twelve Masterworks from an Important Private Collection

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Lot 2
  • 2

Demeter Chiparus

Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 USD
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Description

  • Demeter Chiparus
  • Danseuse de Kamorna
  • base engraved Chiparus, figure stamped 12 
  • cold-painted, parcel-gilt and silvered bronze; carved ivory; on an onyx base
  • 20 x 24 1/8 x 4 3/4 in. (50.8 x 61.3 x 12.1 cm)
  • edited by Les Neveux de J. Lehmann, Paris

Provenance

Frederic M. Babbish Collection

Exhibited

A Private Collection of Art Deco Chryselephantine Sculpture, Sotheby’s, New York, July 17-August 25, 1995

Literature

Bryan Catley, Art Deco and other Figures, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1978, p. 95
Alberto Shayo, Chiparus:  Master of Art Deco, New York, 1993, p. 135, pl. 66

Catalogue Note

The short flared skirt worn by the figure in Chiparus' Danseuse de Kamorna mimics the style of the folklore costumes Alexandre Golovine created for the ballet Firebird in 1910, though its abbreviated length and close fit highlight other attributes of signature Ballets Russes costumes.  The richly patterned harem pants, jeweled turban and revealing midriff were conventional means of connoting Eastern exoticism, like the supple torso of the figure's languid pose.