Items Similar to Yiddish Theatre Cubist Costume Design 1924 Deco Color Field Modernism Broadway
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 13
Boris AronsonYiddish Theatre Cubist Costume Design 1924 Deco Color Field Modernism Broadway1924
1924
About the Item
Yiddish Theatre Cubist Costume Design 1924 Deco Color Field Modernism Broadway.
Boris Aronson (1898 – 1980) "Day and Night," 17 ½ x 13 inches. Gouache and watercolor on paper, 1924. Exhibited: Royal Shakespeare Company, Label verso.
Boris Aronson (October 15, 1898 - November 16, 1980) was an American scenic designer for Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He won the Tony Award for Scenic Design six times in his career.
The son of a Rabbi, Aronson was born in Kiev, in the Russian Empire now Ukraine, and enrolled in art school during his youth. Aronson became an apprentice to the designer Aleksandra Ekster, who introduced him to the directors Vsevolod Meyerhold and Alexander Tairov, who influenced him. These three theatre and art veterans were advocates of the Constructivist school in Russia, as opposed to Stanislavski's form of Realism, and they convinced Aronson to embrace the Constructivist style.
Aronson worked for some years in Moscow and Germany. In Berlin he exhibited at the seminal Van Diemen Gallery "First Exhibition of Russian Art", alongside the Constructivists El Lissitzky and Naum Gabo, which introduced Constructivism to the West. He wrote two books in Berlin, on Marc Chagall and Jewish graphic art, before he obtained an immigration visa for America in 1923.
He moved to the Lower East Side in New York City and began designing sets and costumes for the more experimental of the city's Yiddish theatres, including the Unser Theater, the Schildkraut Theatre, and most notably Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theatre. He achieved fame in New York's Jewish community when he designed Schwartz's 1926 revival of Abraham Goldfaden's play The Tenth Commandment. Although he shunned politics, Aronson produced sets for the Communist affiliated ARTEF (Arbeiter Teater Farband, Workers' Theatre Union), such as Lag Boymer and Jim Kooperkop in 1930. However, he soon after left the Yiddish Theatre to prevent his work's "ghettoization", and debuted on Broadway, in 1932, with a revival of Vernon Duke and Yip Harburg's Walk a Little Faster. During the 1930s, he worked on productions by the Group Theatre, including works by Clifford Odets and Irwin Shaw.
From 1934 to 1952, Aronson designed scenes, costumes, and lighting for thirty-four plays and three musicals on Broadway (including his design for what is considered to be the first "concept musical", Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner's Love Life), but those successes were overshadowed by his work for the original 1953 production of The Crucible and the 1955 The Diary of Anne Frank (a play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett based on Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl).
He continued work on Broadway into the 1960s and 1970s with musicals including Do Re Mi, Fiddler on the Roof (for which Aronson returned to his earlier experience with Jewish theatre), Cabaret, Zorba, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, and Pacific Overtures. He won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design three times.
Aronson designed sets for the Metropolitan Opera and ballet companies, including the production of The Nutcracker choreographed by Mikhail Baryshnikov. He was also a non-theatrical artist, working as a painter and sculptor. At the time of his death in 1980, he was a member of New York's theatre and art community and one of its designers. Aronson's wife was Lisa Jalowetz, who worked on many of Aronson's shows as his assistant.
DAY AND NIGHT1, Sholom Ansky
(Yiddish: Tog un nakht)
Here is the cast from the Unser Theatre production of Ansky's "Day and Night," when it opened at the Yiddish Art Theatre in New York City, on December 9, 1924:
Avigdor (Victor) Pecker, Jacob Bleifer, Jacob Bergreen, Wolf Ayzenberg, Joseph Greenberg, I. Lowstein, Isaac Rotblum, Miriam Elias, Esther Mendel, Chaim Schneyer, Asher Polonovsky and Goldie Russler.
So, here is the synopsis of Ansky's "Day and Night." The name of the actor or actress who portrayed a particular role is indicated in parentheses:
SYNOPSIS
ACT 1:
The Rabbi (Chaim Schneyer) has done nothing to stop the children's epidemic raging in the town. In answer to Mendel (Jacob Bergreen), the matchbroker's queries, Hananiah (Avigdor Pecker) describes the Rabbi as a silent recluse, different from his father who died a martyr's death in a massacre. The beadle (Wolf Ayzenberg) comes to fetch the Rabbi to a wedding ceremony to be held in the cemetery as a means of checking the plague. Hananiah replies that the Rabbi will not come. A stranger (Joseph Greenberg) enters, contrary to Hananiah's orders, to implore the Rabbi's aid for his sick child. He is allowed to touch the Rabbi's door and mutely commune with him. The wedding party arrives from the cemetery, Hananiah goes into the Rabbi's room, but immediately returns, telling the party to proceed with the ceremonial dance. After the dance the party leaves.
Deborah (Miriam Elias), the Rabbi's old mother, comes in and promises to consult her son about the match for Miriam (Esther Mandel). Hananiah and the others leave. Miriam, her grandchild, enters, terror-stricken at the plague. When told of the proposed match, she protests wildly and runs off. Rabbi Don, attracted by sounds of Miriam's weeping, enters. Deborah tells of Miriam's refusal and begs him to stay with her. She is kept alive by his prayers, but would rather die. He suspects a secret and demands to know it. She denies any secret and leaves, frightened by his angry face. Miriam enters. In the ensuing conversation they reveal a subconscious love and suppressed desire for each other.
Hananiah brings the news that the Prince of Darkness with his suite celebrates nightly orgies in the ruins of an old mill and is surely the cause of the plague. The Rabbi bids him go there that night to see for himself.
ACT 2:
The ruins of the old mill--Devils tell of their achievements and are sure that Satan will be pleased. He enters and asks for reports. One reports of the carnage he has staged among animals. Another of the fear and hatred he has spread among men. Only the third messenger, sent to vanquish the Rabbi, is missing. Satan (Sidney Stavrov) and Lilith (Lisa Varon) grow impatient. Finally he appears, victorious in having stirred the blood of a Cossack in the Rabbi, aroused his sinful desire for his niece. The orgy starts, Rabbi Don appears and joins in it. Miriam follows. He embraces her. A cock crows; all disappear.
ACT 3:
Hananiah tells the Rabbi his experience. The Rabbi is shocked at his own part in the orgy. He calls Miriam and asks her about her dreams. She does not remember, but thinks she saw him. the Rabbi s sure that Hananiah has sold himself to the Devil. Deborah, entering upon this conversation, collapses. She becomes delirious and discloses the secret of her life. In the massacre in which her husband was murdered, she was raped, and the Rabbi is the son of the Cossack. This revelation kills the Rabbi.
- Creator:Boris Aronson (1898 - 1980, American)
- Creation Year:1924
- Dimensions:Height: 31 in (78.74 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1156210034572
About the Seller
5.0
Platinum Seller
These expertly vetted sellers are 1stDibs' most experienced sellers and are rated highest by our customers.
Established in 2008
1stDibs seller since 2019
160 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- Family at the Beach WPA Modernism American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th CenturyBy William GropperLocated in New York, NYFamily at the Beach WPA Modernism American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century William Gropper (1898 - 1977) "Family at the Beach" 27 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches Mixed media on paper, c. ...Category
1940s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsGouache, Watercolor, Ink, Paper
- "Good Health Week" American Scene Modern Social Realism Double Sided WPA EraBy Jo CainLocated in New York, NY"Good Health Week" American Scene Modern Social Realism Double Sided WPA Era Jo Cain (1904 - 2003) Good Health Week – double sided 13 3/4 x 20 1/2 in...Category
1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsGouache, Paper, Ink
- Glassblowers WPA American Scene Mid- 20th Century Modern Figurative Workers 1932By Harry GottliebLocated in New York, NYGlassblowers WPA American Scene Mid- 20th Century Modern Figurative Workers. Dated and signed "32 Harry Gottlieb" lower right. Sight: 13 1/8" H x 18 1/4" W. Harry Gottlieb, painter, screenprinter, educator, and lithographer, was born in Bucharest, Rumania. He emigrated to America in 1907, and his family settled in Minneapolis. From 1915 to 1917, Gottlieb attended the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. After a short stint as an illustrator for the U.S. Navy, Gottlieb moved to New York City; he became a scenic and costume designer for Eugene O"Neill's Provincetown Theater Group. He also studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and the National Academy of Design. He was one of America's first Social Realist painters, influenced by that Robert Henri-led movement in New York City where Gottlieb settled in 1918. He was also a pioneer in screen printing, which he learned while working for the WPA. He married Eugenie Gershoy, and the couple joined the artist colony at Woodstock, New York. He lectured widely on art education. In 1923, Gottlieb settled in Woodstock, New York and in 1931, spent a a year abroad studying under a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1935, he joined the Federal Art Project...Category
1930s American Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsPaper, Gouache
- Magazine Cover Illustration Mid 20th Century Modern Theatre Broadway Realism WPABy Ernest Hamlin BakerLocated in New York, NYMagazine Cover Illustration Mid 20th Century Modern Theatre Broadway Realism WPA Ernest Hamlin Baker (1889 – 1975) “Today Magazine” Cover ...Category
1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsPaper, Ink, Watercolor, Gouache
- "Times Square" Mid 20th Century 1937 Modernism Broadway Drawing NYC CityscapeLocated in New York, NY"Times Square" Mid 20th Century 1937 Modernism Broadway Drawing NYC Cityscape Philip Goodwin (20th Century) "Times Square," 23 ½ x 17 ¼ inches. Gouache...Category
1930s American Modern Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsPaper, Gouache
- BYE BYE BIRDIE Original 1960 Broadway Musical Costume Drawing Tony Award ElvisLocated in New York, NYBYE BYE BIRDIE Original 1960 Broadway Musical Costume Drawing Tony Award Elvis Miles White (1915 – 2000) BYE BYE BIRDIE 11 x 8 inches Mixed Media on Paper Signed Lower Right Framed by Bark Affixed to the back are original gold lame fabric swatches. This drawing is available, along with two other original costume drawings from BIRDIE by Miles White, another of Conrad Birdie and one of Chita Rivera. Miles White, a leading Broadway and Hollywood costume designer for decades. created costumes for the original Broadway productions of OKLAHOMA CAROUSEL, BYE BYE BIRDIE and many others. In film he worked on "Around the World in 80 Days" and "The Greatest Show on Earth." He designed Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and the Ice Capades for many years. Miles was a close friend for the last 20 years of his life. We live with one of his two Tony Awards and a dozen drawings. BYE BYE BIRDIE is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart...Category
1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsWatercolor, Gouache, Pencil
You May Also Like
- “Woman in Blue”By Kenneth Paul BlockLocated in Southampton, NYHere for your consideration is an original watercolor and gouache fashion illustration by the world renowned fashion artist, Kenneth Paul Block. Presently unframed. Signed with initi...Category
1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsWatercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper
- Mid Century "Driver with Hard Hat" Gouache and Oil Pastel Figurative 1960s SFBy Gloria DudfieldLocated in Arp, TXGloria Dudfield Driver with Hard Hat 1960s Gouache and Oil Pastel on Paper 27"x36" unframed $700 *Custom framing available for additional charge. Please expec...Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsOil Pastel, Paper, Gouache
- 1950s "At the Table" Mid Century Figurative Gouache & Oil PastelBy Donald StacyLocated in Arp, TXDonald Stacy "At the Table" c.1950s Gouache and oil pastel on paper 24"x18" unframed Came from artist's estate *Custom framing available for additional charge. Please expect framing ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil Pastel, Gouache, Paper
- 1960s "Leaning Over" Gouache & Oil Pastel Bay Area Figurative MovementBy Gloria DudfieldLocated in Arp, TXGloria Dudfield "Leaning Over" c. 1960s Gouache and charcoal on newsprint Unsigned 18" x 12" framed silver bamboo frame black mat 19.25"x25.25" Gloria...Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsGouache, Paper, Oil Pastel
- 'At the Fruit Stand', Market Scene with Vendors, Mother and ChildLocated in Santa Cruz, CASigned lower right, 'Stuart Miller' (American, 20th Century) and painted circa 1965.Category
1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsPaper, Gouache, Board, Pen
- Saint Rose on a Bed of GlassBy Kelly FearingLocated in Dallas, TXThis is lithographic crayon and gouache on paperCategory
1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsPaper, Crayon, Gouache
