Tag: 1940s

Hilary Napier and Shona Dunlop

Margaret Michaelis-Sachs :: Encounter [Shona Dunlop and Hilary Napier in ‘Seastudy’] ca. 1947 | src NGA
Margaret Michaelis-Sachs (1902-1985) :: Encounter [Shona Dunlop and Hilary Napier in ‘Seastudy’], 1947 | src NGA

Dancer in long skirt by Michaelis

Margaret Michaelis (1902-1985) ~ [Female dancer in long dark skirt, dancing with clenched hands], 1940s | src NGA
Margaret Michaelis (1902-1985) ~ untitled [Female dancer in long, dark skirt], 1940s | src NGA
Margaret Michaelis (1902-1985) ~ untitled [Female dancer (leaping) leaning back], 1940s | src NGA
Margaret Michaelis (1902-1985) ~ untitled [Female dancer in long dark skirt, dancing with clenched hands], 1940s | src NGA

Leonor Fini in owl mask, ca. 1949

André Ostier :: Leonor Fini wearing a ball costume and the famous mask of a Snowy Owl, ca. 1949. | src stephen ellcock
André Ostier :: Leonor Fini wearing a ball costume and the famous mask of a Snowy Owl, ca. 1949. | src stephen ellcock
André Ostier :: Leonor Fini wearing a ball costume and the famous mask of a Snowy Owl, ca. 1949. | src stephen ellcock
André Ostier :: Leonor Fini wearing a ball costume and the famous mask of a Snowy Owl, ca. 1949. | src stephen ellcock

Fini’s owl mask originates with the New Year’s Eve party called the Bal des Oiseaux given at the Palais Rose on the avenue Foch, Paris, by Vicomte Charles Benoist d’Azy at the end of 1948. Webb writes, “she wore an owl mask of white feathers with headdress and gown of black-and-green-striped feathers. A series of dramatic photographs of her in this costume, as well as in the costumes for other balls of 1947 and 1948, were taken by Andre Ostier and widely published in newspapers and magazines, and Pauline Reage used the same mask in the final scene of her erotic novel Histoire d’O (Story of O), which was later illustrated by Leonor.”

Quotation from Peter Webb’s biography: Sphinx – The Life and Art of Leonor Fini

Retrieved from Story of O

Cat masks by Leonor Fini

Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. Ferrotyped gelatin silver print | src Christie’s
Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. Ferrotyped gelatin silver print | src Christie’s
Brassaï (Gyula Halász) (1899-1984) ~ Untitled [woman with cat mask by Leonor Fini], Paris, 1930s | src stephen ellcock
Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. Ferrotyped gelatin silver prints | src Christie’s

Les Demoiselles de la Nuit

Ballet in one act with choreography by Roland Petit, libretto by Jean Anouilh, music by Jean Françaix, and scenery & costume design (including the ballet’s fantastic cat masks) by Leonor Fini. It premiered on 22 May 1948 by Ballets de Paris at the Théâtre Marigny (Paris), with Fonteyn, Petit, and Hamilton. It tells the story of a musician who falls in love with his beautiful cat Agathe, who has assumed semi-human form. Agathe tries to be faithful to her human lover but is lured away by the sound of tomcats and the call of freedom. She leaps off the rooftops and the musician falls to his death as he tries to grab hold of her. She falls after him and they are united in death. | src The Oxford Dictionary of Dance

Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Dancer wearing a cat costume designed by Leonor Fini for Les Demoiselles de la Nuit, 1948 | src ODLP ~ l’œil de la photographie

Michaelis self-portrait · 1948

Margaret Michaelis (1902-1985) ~ [self-portrait] Parramatta River, Sydney, 14 June 1948 | src NGA
Margaret Michaelis (1902-1985) ~ [self-portrait] Parramatta River, Sydney, 14 June 1948 | src NGA