Papers by Alexander T Ciesielski
Parade, which premiered on May 18, 1917 at the Théâtre du Chatelet, was the result of a collabora... more Parade, which premiered on May 18, 1917 at the Théâtre du Chatelet, was the result of a collaboration between Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Léonide Massine, and Erik Satie, all under the guidance of the “monstre sacré” of the Ballets Russes – Serge Diaghilev. The ballet tells the story of a troupe of itinerant performers on the streets of Paris as they offer a preview of their show in an effort to draw an audience, an effort that ultimately fails. Even before the curtain fell, life had imitated art and audiences were voicing their derision by shouting such insults as “Métèques,” “Sales Boches,” “Trahison,” “Art munichois,” “embusqués,” and others that convey a hatred of the perceived unpatriotic German behavior of the ballet’s collaborators. This ire was mostly directed at Pablo Picasso and seems to be due to the cubist character of several of his designs for both the décor and costumes.
While most condemned the ballet, others more attuned to the various styles at work in the larger aesthetic of the production attempted to offer explication. One such figure was Jean Cocteau himself, who, in an article for Vanity Fair, offered an explanation that seems at odds with his own subtitle “Ballet Réaliste” and his continuous urgings to the men to “Soyons Vulgaire” or “be vulgar” during the ballet’s conception. He offers an interpretation of the ballet that hinges on Picasso and Satie’s incorporation of neoclassicism into the production. This is even more intriguing when one realizes how much Diaghilev had pushed Cocteau out of the creative and promotional processes surrounding the Ballet. Additionally, Satie worked from a scenario not entirely of Cocteau’s original intention – he worked from a version of the scenario rewritten without Cocteau’s knowledge by Picasso. Over the course of this essay, I will be exploring how this neoclassicism is represented visually, and I intend to offer an interpretation of Picasso’s rideau de scène, or overture curtain, in particular (Fig 1). I hope to relate the imagery of the curtain, which is nostalgically classicizing while remaining mildly cubist in style, to the overall scenario of the ballet. In doing so, I plan to argue that facing the negative criticism of the perceived foreign influence of Cubism, combined with negative attitudes toward foreign civilian non-combatant artists during WWI, Picasso used the framework of Cocteau’s scenario to explore the dilemma of the avant-garde (appropriately symbolized by the performers) to present a mélange of current progressive visual possibilities. However, Picasso saves his solution, just like the main act of the parade, for the unseen interior of the tent that is represented on the rideau de scène in a veiled visual language of classicism.
Beginning with a brief summary of the Ballets Russes’ place in the landscape of Parisian art and theatre, this essay will continue by recounting the process by which Parade came to be. After presenting the scenario of the ballet and its various characters and costumes, I will turn to its critical reception, particularly the anti-cubist attitudes and insults hurled at the collaborators. I will do my best to fit these into both the context of current wartime events as well as into the context of the anti-cubist criticisms of the 1910’s as described by Kenneth Silver. Finally, I will explore the nostalgic neoclassicist vein of the ballet and suggest that this was the intention of Picasso in his conception of the curtain in relation to the greater action of the ballet.
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Papers by Alexander T Ciesielski
While most condemned the ballet, others more attuned to the various styles at work in the larger aesthetic of the production attempted to offer explication. One such figure was Jean Cocteau himself, who, in an article for Vanity Fair, offered an explanation that seems at odds with his own subtitle “Ballet Réaliste” and his continuous urgings to the men to “Soyons Vulgaire” or “be vulgar” during the ballet’s conception. He offers an interpretation of the ballet that hinges on Picasso and Satie’s incorporation of neoclassicism into the production. This is even more intriguing when one realizes how much Diaghilev had pushed Cocteau out of the creative and promotional processes surrounding the Ballet. Additionally, Satie worked from a scenario not entirely of Cocteau’s original intention – he worked from a version of the scenario rewritten without Cocteau’s knowledge by Picasso. Over the course of this essay, I will be exploring how this neoclassicism is represented visually, and I intend to offer an interpretation of Picasso’s rideau de scène, or overture curtain, in particular (Fig 1). I hope to relate the imagery of the curtain, which is nostalgically classicizing while remaining mildly cubist in style, to the overall scenario of the ballet. In doing so, I plan to argue that facing the negative criticism of the perceived foreign influence of Cubism, combined with negative attitudes toward foreign civilian non-combatant artists during WWI, Picasso used the framework of Cocteau’s scenario to explore the dilemma of the avant-garde (appropriately symbolized by the performers) to present a mélange of current progressive visual possibilities. However, Picasso saves his solution, just like the main act of the parade, for the unseen interior of the tent that is represented on the rideau de scène in a veiled visual language of classicism.
Beginning with a brief summary of the Ballets Russes’ place in the landscape of Parisian art and theatre, this essay will continue by recounting the process by which Parade came to be. After presenting the scenario of the ballet and its various characters and costumes, I will turn to its critical reception, particularly the anti-cubist attitudes and insults hurled at the collaborators. I will do my best to fit these into both the context of current wartime events as well as into the context of the anti-cubist criticisms of the 1910’s as described by Kenneth Silver. Finally, I will explore the nostalgic neoclassicist vein of the ballet and suggest that this was the intention of Picasso in his conception of the curtain in relation to the greater action of the ballet.
While most condemned the ballet, others more attuned to the various styles at work in the larger aesthetic of the production attempted to offer explication. One such figure was Jean Cocteau himself, who, in an article for Vanity Fair, offered an explanation that seems at odds with his own subtitle “Ballet Réaliste” and his continuous urgings to the men to “Soyons Vulgaire” or “be vulgar” during the ballet’s conception. He offers an interpretation of the ballet that hinges on Picasso and Satie’s incorporation of neoclassicism into the production. This is even more intriguing when one realizes how much Diaghilev had pushed Cocteau out of the creative and promotional processes surrounding the Ballet. Additionally, Satie worked from a scenario not entirely of Cocteau’s original intention – he worked from a version of the scenario rewritten without Cocteau’s knowledge by Picasso. Over the course of this essay, I will be exploring how this neoclassicism is represented visually, and I intend to offer an interpretation of Picasso’s rideau de scène, or overture curtain, in particular (Fig 1). I hope to relate the imagery of the curtain, which is nostalgically classicizing while remaining mildly cubist in style, to the overall scenario of the ballet. In doing so, I plan to argue that facing the negative criticism of the perceived foreign influence of Cubism, combined with negative attitudes toward foreign civilian non-combatant artists during WWI, Picasso used the framework of Cocteau’s scenario to explore the dilemma of the avant-garde (appropriately symbolized by the performers) to present a mélange of current progressive visual possibilities. However, Picasso saves his solution, just like the main act of the parade, for the unseen interior of the tent that is represented on the rideau de scène in a veiled visual language of classicism.
Beginning with a brief summary of the Ballets Russes’ place in the landscape of Parisian art and theatre, this essay will continue by recounting the process by which Parade came to be. After presenting the scenario of the ballet and its various characters and costumes, I will turn to its critical reception, particularly the anti-cubist attitudes and insults hurled at the collaborators. I will do my best to fit these into both the context of current wartime events as well as into the context of the anti-cubist criticisms of the 1910’s as described by Kenneth Silver. Finally, I will explore the nostalgic neoclassicist vein of the ballet and suggest that this was the intention of Picasso in his conception of the curtain in relation to the greater action of the ballet.