Not on display

Thamar

Photograph
1912 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Studio photograph of Tamara Karsavina as the Queen and Adoph Bolm as the stranger in the ballet Thamar. The photograph was probably commissioned for Comoedia Illustre.The music was by Mily Balakirev and the choreography by Mikhail Fokine, with costumes designed by Leon Bakst. Thamar was first performed by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes on 20 May 1912 at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris and in London on 12 June 1912 at the Royal Opera House. It remained in the company’s repertoire until 1929.

The ballet, inspired by a poem by Lermontov, tells of Thamar, Queen of Georgia who lures strangers to her castle above the Dariel Gorge and after a night of passion kills them. As the Pall Mall Gazette claimed ‘It is a terrible dream of Eastern lust, a barbaric swirl of music colour, and life’.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThamar (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Photograph
Brief description
Photograph by Waléry of Tamara Karsavina and Adolph Bolm in Thamar, performed by Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, May 1912
Physical description
Studio photograph of Tamara Karsavina and Adolph Bolm in Thamar, performed by Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, May 1912. The image shows Karsavina standing in front of Bolm; she looks at the camera while he looks intensely at her.
Dimensions
  • Height: 138mm
  • Width: 87mm
Credit line
Given by Jean Hugo

Summary
Studio photograph of Tamara Karsavina as the Queen and Adoph Bolm as the stranger in the ballet Thamar. The photograph was probably commissioned for Comoedia Illustre.The music was by Mily Balakirev and the choreography by Mikhail Fokine, with costumes designed by Leon Bakst. Thamar was first performed by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes on 20 May 1912 at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris and in London on 12 June 1912 at the Royal Opera House. It remained in the company’s repertoire until 1929.

The ballet, inspired by a poem by Lermontov, tells of Thamar, Queen of Georgia who lures strangers to her castle above the Dariel Gorge and after a night of passion kills them. As the Pall Mall Gazette claimed ‘It is a terrible dream of Eastern lust, a barbaric swirl of music colour, and life’.
Collection
Accession number
S.198-2017

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Record createdAugust 2, 2017
Record URL
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