Premiering in 1911, “Petrushka” was Alexandre Benois’ most popular production. Conceived by Benois and composer Igor Stravinsky, it is the story of three puppets—Petrushka, the Ballerina, and the Moor — brought to life by a showman at a fair in eighteenth-century St. Petersburg.
“Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music,” through September 2:http://1.usa.gov/11oHmzV
Alexandre Benois, Design for the front cloth from “Petrushka,” 1925, pen, ink, and tempera on machine-made laid charcoal paper, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin, Sumner Collection Fund
