Franciszek Siedlecki (1867–1934) – Theater costume designs for the avant-garde ballet *Love* (15 watercolors). 1925–1928
Watercolors, pencil, gilding, paper; 15 works, various dimensions, avg. approx. 26 x 35 cm (mounted in period paper passe-partouts)
The works are partially signed in pencil (“Fr. Siedlecki”) and described in detail, including : Male and Female Workers (from Act I, titled “The World of Machines”); The Young Man and The Maiden (from Act III, titled “Hierarchies”); Hutsul Man and Hutsul Woman; Kurp Man and Kurp Woman; From Pokuttya; Highlander and Highlander Woman; Dziwożonka and Vistula Woman, Krasawica and Ondyna (from Act IV, titled “Earth—Nature—Countryside”). In addition, there is extensive information regarding the production, such as guidelines on fabrics. These are theater costume designs prepared by Franciszek Siedlecki for Eugeniusz Morawski’s (1876–1948) avant-garde dance poem “Love,” on which the artist worked in 1928 for the Warsaw Opera during the tenure of director Emil Młynarski. The ballet was intended to depict the allegorical journey of a pair of protagonists in search of spiritual values in a world threatened by mechanization (O. Łapeta, “Eugeniusz Morawski’s Ballet Work in the Context of the Search for Polish National Identity” [in:] Polish Musicological Yearbook, XIX, 2021, pp. 54–66). Siedlecki prepared the libretto, staging, and set design for this work, but the performance ultimately did not take place (Młynarski withdrew in 1929 in the face of numerous protests and financial shortfalls). Minor soiling; in good condition . From the artist’s estate.
Lit.: Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Guide 122. April 1937, pp. 13, 21–22.
