For Blue God’s sake
Published 02 May, 2009, 14:50
A one-of-a-kind costume designed by legendary Russian-born artist Leon Bakst went under the hammer at Bonhams for a record $18,000.
The outfit was created for Sergey Dyagilev’s ‘Ballets Russes’ in Paris almost a hundred years ago and was expected to fetch $2,500. However, during the trading session at Bonhams’ Costume and Textile auction in Knowle its price skyrocketed.
According to experts, one of the reasons for such a price hike is that the rare artifact was designed by Bakst for the ballet ‘Le Dieu Bleu’ (‘The Blue God’) which was performed only twice in 1912.
The historic ballet put one of the most celebrated dancers in history Vatslav Nijunsky in the limelight as the Indian god who reunites two lovers.
The richly colored ‘haute-couture’ outfit includes a jacket, a short skirt, and a turban hat and was created for one of the Temple Assistants featured in the performance.
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