The Art of Ballets Russes: The Serge Lifar Collection of Theater Designs, Costumes, and Paintings at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut

New Haven/London: Yale University Press, in association with the Wadsworth Atheneum. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj. (c.1997). First Edition. Hardcover. [a good sound clean copy, but both endpapers are of a 2-ply construction, and the two layers of the front endpaper are separating, plus there is some staining around the edges of both endpapers; the jacket is lightly edge- and surface-worn, with a tiny tear at the lower rear foldover and an associated horizontal along the bottom edge of the rear panel]. (color photographs and facsimiles) An elaborate catalogue produced in conjunction with an exhibition of the Serge Lifar Collection at the Wadsworth Atheneum and two venues in Japan during 1997 and 1998. Lifar, "the last great protégé of famed Russian ballet producer Serge Diaghilev, collected paintings, set designs, and costume designs from Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and from his own later productions at the Paris Opéra," and sold his collection to the Wadsworth Antheneum in 1933 (in order to be able to pay for the return tickets for his troupe after a financially disastrous U.S. tour) for the then-outrageous sum of $10,000 -- which in retrospect seems an incredible bargain for what is regarded as "unrivaled as a comprehensive documentation of the Ballets Russes." In addition to reproducing the 188 works of art and the 32 costumes that comprise the collection, this volume "provides notes about each production and the corresponding items in the collection, as well as a new assessment of the immediate impact and lasting influence" of this renowned ballet company. ****NOTE that additional postage charges will be assessed for international shipping of this large and heavy volumes; if this concerns you, please contact us for a shipping quote before placing your order.**** .