ANDRÉ DERAIN (1880-1934) BALLETS RUSSES DE MONTE-CARLO. 1932. 46x31 1/2 inches, 117x80 cm. Blahane, Paris. Condition B+: repaired tears at edges; creases and abrasions in margins and image; sharp horizontal folds. Derain, one of the founders of the Fauvist movement, was an internationally acclaimed, award-winning French painter. In the years following the First World War, he split away from the avant-garde movement and his work returned to a more classical approach. Derain's first collaboration with the Ballets Russes was with Diaghilev in 1919 (he designed the costumes and sets for La Boutique Fantastique). After Diaghilev's death in 1929, the Ballets Russes ceased operation until 1932, when the company was re-instituted by René Blum and Wassili de Basíl as the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. The new group worked with Leonide Massine and George Balanchine and was able to maintain a similar level of quality and creative effort as before. Derain was commissioned to design the costumes and sets for their premiere performance, La Concurrence. He also designed this poster. It is a remarkable, simple and elegant depiction of two ballerinas, which highlights Derain's skill as a draughstman. Phillips II, 201.
