Costume Design
1934 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain's leading theatre designer of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. He created settings and costumes for all forms of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as working in interior decoration and textile design. His lavish, painterly and romantic concepts were perfectly in tune with the times and earned him an international reputation. By 1960, however, that style was becoming unfashionable, and Messel gradually abandoned theatre and built a new career designing luxury homes in the Caribbean.
Alexander Korda’s The Private Life of Don Juan (1934), which starred Douglas Fairbanks senior as the legendary lover, provided Messel with his first opportunity to design costumes for a film production. 'Sennwald', writing for the New York Times, gave the film a lukewarm review but praised the designs: ‘Chiefly it is interesting for its visual distinction and for its gallery of ravishing ladies' (New York Times, 10 December 1934).
Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939) played Don Juan. Sennwald was unmercifully critical 'The bounding one’s current return to the screen has about it a lamentable air of anachronism … the microphone is ruthlessly unkind to him. Neither in voice nor theatrical skill is he gifted to read lines.' (New York Times, 10 December 1934)
Alexander Korda’s The Private Life of Don Juan (1934), which starred Douglas Fairbanks senior as the legendary lover, provided Messel with his first opportunity to design costumes for a film production. 'Sennwald', writing for the New York Times, gave the film a lukewarm review but praised the designs: ‘Chiefly it is interesting for its visual distinction and for its gallery of ravishing ladies' (New York Times, 10 December 1934).
Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939) played Don Juan. Sennwald was unmercifully critical 'The bounding one’s current return to the screen has about it a lamentable air of anachronism … the microphone is ruthlessly unkind to him. Neither in voice nor theatrical skill is he gifted to read lines.' (New York Times, 10 December 1934)
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Charcoal, watercolour and pencil on paper |
| Brief description | Costume design by Oliver Messel for Douglas Fairbanks senior as Don Juan in the film The Private Life of Don Juan, 1934. |
| Physical description | Costume design by Oliver Messel for Douglas Fairbanks senior as Don Juan in the film The Private Life of Don Juan, 1934. Full length drawing of a man in Spanish costume. He wears a short bolero style jacket in old gold, decorated in a lattice design, with elaborate 'epaulettes' and chocolate brown sleeves trimmed with hanging gold beads. He has tight white breeches trimmed in black and gold, a striped headscarf, black boots and a cummerbund from which hang two bunches of keys and a fanciful bobbled decoration. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Design |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A |
| Object history | The Private Life of Don Juan, a film directed by Alexander Korda and produced by London Film Productions Ltd. It featured Douglas Fairbanks senior as Don Juan and Merle Oberon as Antonia. Lord Snowdon, Oliver Messel's nephew, inherited Messel's theatre designs and other designs and artefacts. The designs were briefly stored in a disused chapel in Kensington Palace before being housed at the V&A from 1981 on indefinite loan. The V&A Theatre Museum purchased the Oliver Messel collection from Lord Snowdon in 2005. |
| Production | Reason For Production: Commission |
| Summary | Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain's leading theatre designer of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. He created settings and costumes for all forms of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as working in interior decoration and textile design. His lavish, painterly and romantic concepts were perfectly in tune with the times and earned him an international reputation. By 1960, however, that style was becoming unfashionable, and Messel gradually abandoned theatre and built a new career designing luxury homes in the Caribbean. Alexander Korda’s The Private Life of Don Juan (1934), which starred Douglas Fairbanks senior as the legendary lover, provided Messel with his first opportunity to design costumes for a film production. 'Sennwald', writing for the New York Times, gave the film a lukewarm review but praised the designs: ‘Chiefly it is interesting for its visual distinction and for its gallery of ravishing ladies' (New York Times, 10 December 1934). Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939) played Don Juan. Sennwald was unmercifully critical 'The bounding one’s current return to the screen has about it a lamentable air of anachronism … the microphone is ruthlessly unkind to him. Neither in voice nor theatrical skill is he gifted to read lines.' (New York Times, 10 December 1934) |
| Bibliographic reference | Pinkham, Roger (ed.) Oliver Messel: an exhibition held at the Theatre Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, 22 June - 30 September 1983.
London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983. 200p., ill
ISBN 0905209508) |
| Other number | ROT 6428 - TM Rotation Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.6466-2009 |
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| Record created | March 22, 2010 |
| Record URL |
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