Not currently on display at the V&A

The Moon and Sixpence

Costume Design
1956 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Costume design by Leslie Hurry for a Guest in John Gardner's The Moon and Sixpence, Sadler's Wells, 1956.

Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Moon and Sixpence (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Pen and sepia, watercolour and colour pencil drawing with fabric swatch
Brief description
Costume design by Leslie Hurry for a Guest in John Gardner's The Moon and Sixpence, Sadler's Wells, 1956
Physical description
Sepia pen, watercolour and colour pencil costume design of a Guest in 1956 production of The Moon and Sixpence at Sadler's Wells Theatre with green fabric swatch pinned to top left corner.
Dimensions
  • Height: 46cm
  • Width: 30.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Guest Mr Shiels with annotations (Front side)
  • V (Bottom right corner in purple ink.)
  • £200 (Reverse side)
Credit line
Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone
Summary
Costume design by Leslie Hurry for a Guest in John Gardner's The Moon and Sixpence, Sadler's Wells, 1956.

Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.
Collection
Accession number
S.1497-2014

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Record createdJuly 3, 2014
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