Léon Bakst (Russian, 1866-1924) Costume design for the Foreigner in "Oedipus at Colonus" Ink and gouache on paper 11 x 8-1/8 inches (27.9 x 20.6 cm) (sight) Signed in Cyrillic lower right and inscribed in Cyrillic upper right: Bakst / Edip' f' Kolonyu / Gyzhezemets Property from the William A. Glaser Collection PROVENANCE: Swann Galleries, New York, September 18, 2002, lot 25; Acquired by the present owner from the above. Oedipus at Colonus is second in the series of three Theban plays by Athenian tragedian Sophocles. Set in the playwright's own birthplace, and occurring between the events of Oedipus Rex and Antigone, Oedipus at Colonus was the last to be written, completed shortly before Sophocles' death in 406 B.C.. It is said that the play was first produced for the stage by the author's grandson, also called Sophocles, for the Festival of Dionysus in 401 B.C.. While the costumes, if any, used at that time are unknown, Léon Bakst drew from the intervening millennia to put forth his own vision for the play, seen in the present work. An early example of the artist's costume design, this rich, pattern-focused ensemble for Oedipus at Colonus was created for a production at the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg that premiered January 8, 1904. HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice