Shop art print and framed art L'Après Midi d'un Faune by Léon Bakst

L'Après-midi d'un faune is a one-act ballet by Vaslav Nijinsky, set to the music of Claude Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (inspired by Stéphane Mallarmé's poem L'Après-midi d'un faune) and Léon Bakst's sets and costumes. Premiered by Serge de Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet on 29 May 1912, this ballet was Nijinsky's first choreography, in which he was also the principal dancer. He immediately established himself as an original choreographer, emphasising the animality and sensuality of the faun through costume and make-up. Playing with angles, profiles and lateral movements, Nijinsky abandoned academic dance in favour of stylised gesture. The argument of the ballet is not the adaptation of Mallarmé's poem, but a scene that precedes it. A faun wakes up on a mound, plays a flute and contemplates grapes. A first group of three nymphs appears, followed by a second group that accompanies the main nymph. She dances at centre stage, gradually shedding the veils that cover her. The faun, attracted by the nymphs' dancing, goes to meet them to seduce them, but they flee. Only the principal nymph remains with the faun"; after the pas de deux, she flees, leaving her shawl at the faun's feet. The faun seizes it, but three nymphs try unsuccessfully to take it back, and three other nymphs mock the faun. He returns to his mound with the cloth, which he contemplates in an attitude of fascination. Placing it on the ground, he lies down on the [...]

 

This artwork is a drawing from the modern period. It belongs to the art deco styles and art nouveau styles.

 

« L'Après Midi d'un Faune » is kept at Bibliotheque de L'Arsenal, Paris, France.

 

Find the full description of L'Après Midi d'un Faune by Léon Bakst on Wikipedia.