Not currently on display at the V&A

Illustration

ca.1918 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Illustration by Adrian Allinson showing the ballet, Sadko as performed by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes probably at the London Coliseum in 1918. The full scene shows the Sea-King and Princess of the Sea raised on the left watching the dancing by the ‘Goldfish, Sea Plants, Fish and Sea Currents’ (as they are called in the Coliseum programme) while Sadko on a rock (centre back) plays his gusli, a forp of harp. Signed ‘Allinson’ in the bottom left hand corner.

Sadko was described as a ‘fantastic ballet in one act’. Initially, in 1911, the Ballets Russes had presented scene 6 of Rimsky Korsakov’s opera with vocalists as well as dancers but to provide a novelty for the second Ballets Russes tour of North America Adolph Bolm choreographed a new ballet (without singers) re-using the set by Boris Anisfeld and with new costumes by Natalia Goncharova. Sadko was previewed before the tour Teatro Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastián, Spain on 19 August 1916. It was first performed by the Ballets Russes in London on 31 October 1918 at the Coliseum Theatre and the production had its last ever performance at the London Coliseum 12 February 1919. For London the cast was led by Lubov Tchernicheva (Princess of the Sea), Jean Jazvinski as Sadko and M. Whitworth Junes as the Sea-King.

‘Sadko, a great Russian minstrel, played so wonderfully upon the national instrument, the gusli, that once when he went to sea, the daughter of the Sea-King fell enamoured of him.
To gratify her desire she caused a great storm, imperilling Sadko’s vessel. Aware of the source of the danger, Sadko threw himself into the sea to save the lives of his companions.
On his arrival in the realm of the Sea-King he was welcomed and invited to play to the court. He did so and soon all the inhabitants of the sea were dancing to his tune. The dance became wilder and wilder, and set the whole of the sea in motion. Seeing that he had caused the storm to rise again Sadko broke the strings of his instrument and made his escape to the upper world, taking with him his sea-bride.'

Allinson’s drawing was comissioned as the frontispiece for a booklet in Cyril Beaumont’s series Impressions of the Russian Ballet that was never produced.




Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Pen and black ink in paper
Brief description
Illustration by Adrian Allinson showing the ballet, Sadko as performed by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes probably at the London Coliseum in 1918
Physical description
Allinson’s line drawing shows an underwater kingdom with the Sea-King and Princess of the Sea raised on the left watch the dancing by the ‘Goldfish, Sea Plants, Fish and Sea Currents’ as well as an octopus while Sadko on a rock (centre back) plays his gusli. Signed ‘Allinson’ in the bottom left hand corner.
Dimensions
  • Image in border height: 18.9cm
  • Image in border width: 19.1cm
  • Height of paper height: 20.2cm
  • Width of paper width: 20.4cm
Marks and inscriptions
Allinson (signature in left hand corner)
Credit line
Cyril W. Beaumont Bequest
Object history
Cyril Beaumont Collection
Subject depicted
Summary
Illustration by Adrian Allinson showing the ballet, Sadko as performed by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes probably at the London Coliseum in 1918. The full scene shows the Sea-King and Princess of the Sea raised on the left watching the dancing by the ‘Goldfish, Sea Plants, Fish and Sea Currents’ (as they are called in the Coliseum programme) while Sadko on a rock (centre back) plays his gusli, a forp of harp. Signed ‘Allinson’ in the bottom left hand corner.

Sadko was described as a ‘fantastic ballet in one act’. Initially, in 1911, the Ballets Russes had presented scene 6 of Rimsky Korsakov’s opera with vocalists as well as dancers but to provide a novelty for the second Ballets Russes tour of North America Adolph Bolm choreographed a new ballet (without singers) re-using the set by Boris Anisfeld and with new costumes by Natalia Goncharova. Sadko was previewed before the tour Teatro Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastián, Spain on 19 August 1916. It was first performed by the Ballets Russes in London on 31 October 1918 at the Coliseum Theatre and the production had its last ever performance at the London Coliseum 12 February 1919. For London the cast was led by Lubov Tchernicheva (Princess of the Sea), Jean Jazvinski as Sadko and M. Whitworth Junes as the Sea-King.

‘Sadko, a great Russian minstrel, played so wonderfully upon the national instrument, the gusli, that once when he went to sea, the daughter of the Sea-King fell enamoured of him.
To gratify her desire she caused a great storm, imperilling Sadko’s vessel. Aware of the source of the danger, Sadko threw himself into the sea to save the lives of his companions.
On his arrival in the realm of the Sea-King he was welcomed and invited to play to the court. He did so and soon all the inhabitants of the sea were dancing to his tune. The dance became wilder and wilder, and set the whole of the sea in motion. Seeing that he had caused the storm to rise again Sadko broke the strings of his instrument and made his escape to the upper world, taking with him his sea-bride.'

Allinson’s drawing was comissioned as the frontispiece for a booklet in Cyril Beaumont’s series Impressions of the Russian Ballet that was never produced.


Collection
Accession number
S.646-2014

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Record createdApril 1, 2014
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