Caricature by Nicolai and Sergei Legat of Tamara Karsavina thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Caricature by Nicolai and Sergei Legat of Tamara Karsavina

Print
1902-1905 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Legat, Nicolai (artist)
Legat, Sergei (artist)
Place of origin
Great Britain (printed)

Nicolai Legat (1869-1937) and his brother Sergei (1875-1905) were dancers, choreographers, teachers of ballet and caricaturists. Both worked for the Russian Imperial Ballet. Nicolai became an important teacher and after leaving the Imperial Ballet in 1914 went on to teach dance in Russia, Paris and London, where he eventually settled. Sergei, regarded as the greater choreographer and perceived as the natural successor to Pavel Gerdt as the Imperial Ballet's Premier danseur noble, committed suicide, aged 30.

The brothers worked together to produce caricatures of fellow dancers and choreographers. Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978), was the principal ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet, then of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes..


Object details

Categories
Entertainment & Leisure
Prints
Object type
Print
TitleCaricature by Nicolai and Sergei Legat of Tamara Karsavina (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Chromolithograph
Printing Ink
Paper
Chromolithography
Brief description
Caricature by Nicolai and Sergei Legat of Tamara Karsavina
Physical description
Caricature of Tamara Karsavina by Nicolai and Sergei Legat, dancing in a plain white tutu, apparently rehearsal dress.
Dimensions
  • Height: 31.9cm
  • Width: 23.6cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'T. KARSAVINA' (Printed, lower right hand corner. The name also appears in Russian, lower left hand corner, and the artists' names are printed to the right of the figure.)
  • '22' (Number in pencil in upper right hand corner)
Object history
The image is taken from The Russian Ballet in Caricatures, St Petersburg, 1902-1905, a portfolio of 95 prints.
Subject depicted
Karsavina, Tamara Platonova
Summary
Nicolai Legat (1869-1937) and his brother Sergei (1875-1905) were dancers, choreographers, teachers of ballet and caricaturists. Both worked for the Russian Imperial Ballet. Nicolai became an important teacher and after leaving the Imperial Ballet in 1914 went on to teach dance in Russia, Paris and London, where he eventually settled. Sergei, regarded as the greater choreographer and perceived as the natural successor to Pavel Gerdt as the Imperial Ballet's Premier danseur noble, committed suicide, aged 30.

The brothers worked together to produce caricatures of fellow dancers and choreographers. Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978), was the principal ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet, then of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes..
Bibliographic references
  • Legat, N. & S, Russky Balet v Karikatura, St Petersburg 1902-05 Legat, N. Ballet Russe London, 1939 Gregory, John. The Legat Saga - Golden Years of the Russian Ballet: the life and times of Nicolai Legat ( London: Javog Publishing Associates, 1992), p.18.
  • Legat, Nicolai (trans. Paul Dukes) Ballet Russe Memoirs of Nicholas Legat (London: Methuen, 1939), p.8.
Collection
Theatre and Performance Collection
Accession number
S.5312-2009

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Record createdFebruary 18, 2010
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1155115/caricature-by-nicolai-and-sergei-print-legat-nicolai/
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