Physical description
A costume design, drawn in pencil, for the première danseuse in Gounod's opera Sapho. The dancer is poised en pointe; her elaborately bejewelled costume and headdress are clearly influenced by Orientalist painting.
Place of Origin
Paris, France (made)
Date
ca. 1883 (made)
Artist/maker
Moreau, Gustave, born 1826 - died 1897 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
Pencil on paper
Marks and inscriptions
'GM'
'1er Danseuse. Melle Subra. Op
Dimensions
Height: 12.25 in, Width: 6.75 in
Historical context note
This drawing depicts in pencil the Greek poetess, Sapho, dancing. Signed, ‘GM’ and inscribed, ‘lere Danseuse. Melle Subra. Opéra de Sapho’, it was to serve in part as a costume design portraying Mademoiselle Subra, the dancing star of the Paris Opera Company. Mademoiselle Subra may have performed Sapho at the 1884 revival of Charles Gounod’s opera, Sapho, at the Paris Opera (Palais Garnier). François Pierre Régnier, the Opera manager, asked Moreau to design the costumes for the production. However, the designs were eventually sold at a benefit for the widow of a former director, having not been utilized for unknown reasons.
The dancer’s elaborate dress was undoubedtly influenced by orientalist tastes. Moreau often used outside visual sources containing what was seen as new and exotic material; for further evidence of this see Sappho, also in the V&A’s collection ( P.11-1934), which shows her in a Japanese kimono inspired by popular prints being sold in Paris at the time.
The figure of Sappho reccurs many times in Moreau’s oeuvre and in particlular the artist re-worked her pose in several works. For instance, the dancer’s mood and stance are related to that of Salomé, in the oil paintings Salomé Dancing before Herod (Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris), and to the body of Apollo in Apollo victorious over the serpent Python, 1885, (National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa). Also reminiscent is the watercolour L'Apparition (Musée du Louvre, Paris), which Moreau exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1876, and a drawing of Salomé (Jean Ehrmann collection). In addition, two oil sketches representing Salomé, L'Apparition (Fogg Art Museum, Harvard) and Salomé Tatouée (Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris), are akin to the costume design.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1968 London: HMSO, 1969
The full text of the entry is as follows:
"MOREAU, Gustave (1826-1898)
Costume design for a dancer in the opera Sapho.
Signed GM and inscribed ler Danseuse. Melle Subra. Opéra de Sapho.
Pencil. E.49-1968
Note: This drawing was probably inspired by a second performance in Paris of Gounod's opera Sapho in 1884 in which Mademoiselle Subra, the dancing star of the Paris Opera Company may have appeared.
The mood this dancing figure evokes is related to that of Salomé in the oil painting "Salomé dancing before Herod" illustrated on Pl. III in L'Art Fantastique de Gutsave Moreau, Paris, 1960, by Ragner von Holten and in the water-colour "L'Apparition", illustrated as no.17 in von Holten, which Moreau exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1876. The attitude and rhythm of the dancer's body are very similar to those of Salomé in two oil sketches: "L'Apparition" no.222 of the Catalogue Sommaire du Gustave Moreau, Paris, in 1926 and Salomé "Tatouée" no.19 and to a drawing of Salomé no.20 in von Holten.
This drawing was formerly in the collection of Charles Hessèle."
Pierre-Louis Mathieu, Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre achevé, Fribourg, 1976, pl. 315, p. 334.
Pierre-Louis Mathieu, Gustave Moreau Monographie et Nouveau Catalogue de l’oeuvre achevé, Paris, 1998, pl. 353, p. 388.
Rachel Sloan, 'Gustave Moreau and the Raffalovich family: new documents on Sappho', The Burlington Magazine CXLVIII (May 2006), p. 330.
Compares Sapho’s stance, particularly the raised arm and tapered legs to the work, Apollo victorious over the serpent Python, ca. 1885, (National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa).
Materials
Paper; Pencil
Techniques
Drawing
Subjects depicted
Sappho
Categories
Drawings; Designs
Collection code
PDP
