Book, "Les Ballets Suédois in Contemporary Art", Editions du Trianon, Paris, 1931
Editions du Trianon, Paris, 1931. Numbered 147/1000.
With dedication 'Till Thyra af Kleen vänligen Rolf de Maré Paris 1933'.
Paperback with cover design by Fernand Léger. Partially uncut. 196 pages + 64 plates in heliogravure and 14 loose pochoirs executed by Beafumé in a folder with motifs depicting costume sketches, set designs, and decorations by artists including Fernand Léger, Pierre Bonnard, Madame Parr, Giorgio de Chirico, Einar Nerman, Steinlen, Nils Dardel, Foujita.
Book and plate folder in a marbled slipcase. Texts by: Fokine, Haquinius, De Maré, Rémon, Tansman, Tugal. Other contributors: Claudel, Casella, Cendrars, Cocteau, Inghelbrecht, Milhaud, Pirandello, Picabia, Roland-Manuel.
Cassette with minor damage, wear, cover with minor wear. Not reviewed.
Provenance
From the The Bengt and Lilavati Häger Collection.
Lilavati and Professor Bengt Häger’s art collection was culturally significant and vast. It is clear that it was founded on the couples cross cultural experiences. Lilavati was a leading exponent of Indian dance and Bengt one of the most important European Impresarios of his day.
Multitalented and highly regarded Bengt Häger (1916-2011) worked inexhaustibly throughout his life to promote dance as an independent art form and field of research. He founded and managed the Swedish Dance Museum, the University Collage of Dance and Circus in Stockholm. He worked actively to bring international guest performances from world leading dance companies. Organized international tours for Swedish dance companies such as the Cullberg Ballet, which he managed 1967-1987. He was the first to bring Peking Opera out of China after the revolution and was a great friend of the renowned Peking Opera singer Mai Lanfang.
For many years Mr Häger was the closest friend and collaborator of the famous Art Collector Rolf the Maré (1888-1964), founder of Ballet Suedois in Paris. Bengt was also involved with UNESCO and founded the Centre International de Dance.
Lilavati Devi (1925-2002). First came to Sweden as a principal performer of the dance company set up by Ram Gopal (1912-2003), the Nijinsky of India. Bengt and Lilavati married in 1954. She became an important ambassador of Indian Dance in Scandinavia. They couple came to inhabit a circle that included some of the major international dancers, performers and choreographers of the last Century.
More information
"Bakom Svenska Baletten stod konstsamlaren och kosmopoliten Rolf de Maré (1888–1964) och koreografen och dansaren Jean Börlin (1893–1930). Danskompaniet ville bryta ny mark och locka publik, men Svenska Baletten var även ett sätt för Rolf att skapa en plattform åt sin partner Jean.
För dansarna blev Paris ett stort äventyr. De yngsta var bara 15 år och hade knappt debuterat på Operan i Stockholm. Med Svenska Baletten fick de uppleva utsålda kvällar på några av Europas största och mest prestigefyllda scener.
Svenska Baletten var mycket uppmärksammade och omdiskuterade under sin tid och betraktades som en konkurrent till Sergei Diaghilevs kompani, Ryska Baletten, Ballets Russes. I sin strävan efter det nya utmanade Svenska Baletten såväl konstnärliga som sexuella normer och kompaniets sätt att blanda olika konstformer inspirerar än i dag – hundra år senare." (Från Dansmuseets hemsida och deras utställning i samband med 100-årsminnet).