LOT 75
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LOT 75 75
[BALLETS RUSSES]. Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929), Boris Kochno (1904-1990). LES NOCES Premiere Program, inscribed and signed by Sergei Diaghilev to Boris Kochno.
the program for the sixteenth season of the Ballets Russes, dated June 1923, with a cover illustration by Picasso, 320 x 240 mm, ca.25pp, SIGNED AND DEDICATED IN INK ON THE TITLE PAGE UNDERNEATH THE REPERTOIRE BY DIAGHILEV IN CYRILLIC, Moyemu Dorogomu Borenke na pamyat o ego Zabotlivom Trude 13 Yun 1923 Parizh [To my dear little Boris in remembrance of his Diligent Work 13 June 1923 Paris].
Born in 1904 in Moscow to a family of limited means, Kochno had emigrated to Paris with mother while he was still a teenager, via Constantinople. A homosexual who preferred older men, Kochno had already been a lover of the famous Polish composer Karol Szymanowski when he was only 15. Szymanowski`s love for the young boy ran deep, and he even wrote a number of love poems as odes to Kochno, including Ganymede, Baedecker, N`importe, and Vagabond. In Paris, Kochno met the artist Sergei Sudeikin, who had been part of Mir Iskusstva and designed sets and costumes for Diaghilev`s Ballets Russes productions. Sudeikin had an open marriage with his wife Vera de Bosset (who later married Stravinsky), and had sexual affairs with both men and women. He would go on to have an affair with Kochno, beknownst to his wife. For Sudeikin , however, the most important thing was to maintain a good working relationship with Sergei Diaghilev, who could essentially make or break his career. As such, Sudeikin decided to make an offer of the young Kochno to Diaghilev, who was openly gay. Therefore, in 1921, at the age of 17, Boris Kochno was sent to Diaghilev by Sudeikin. The day after they met, Diaghilev offered Kochno a job as his secretary. Kochno would go on to become not only Diaghilev`s secretary, but also his librettist and eventually main collaborator. Diaghilev and Kochno were indeed lovers as well. Kochno would continue to be indispensable to the Ballets Russes, writing librettos for example for Stravinsky`s Mavra (1921), the Facheaux (1924), La Chatte, and The Prodigal Son. As of 1925, Kochno was having an affair with Cole Porter but still actively working with the Ballets Russes. Upon Diaghilev`s death in 1929, Kochno and Serge Lifar made a valiant attempt to continue the Ballets Russes, but it did not happen. Later in his career, Kochno would become the ballet director of the Monte Carlo Ballet, a co-Founder along with George Balanchine of Les Ballets 1933, and the co-Founder along with Roland Petit of the Ballets des Champs-Elysees.
Reference photographs show here [for reference only, not being sold with the lot]: Two photographs of Boris Kochno as a young man.
Born in 1904 in Moscow to a family of limited means, Kochno had emigrated to Paris with mother while he was still a teenager, via Constantinople. A homosexual who preferred older men, Kochno had already been a lover of the famous Polish composer Karol Szymanowski when he was only 15. Szymanowski`s love for the young boy ran deep, and he even wrote a number of love poems as odes to Kochno, including Ganymede, Baedecker, N`importe, and Vagabond. In Paris, Kochno met the artist Sergei Sudeikin, who had been part of Mir Iskusstva and designed sets and costumes for Diaghilev`s Ballets Russes productions. Sudeikin had an open marriage with his wife Vera de Bosset (who later married Stravinsky), and had sexual affairs with both men and women. He would go on to have an affair with Kochno, beknownst to his wife. For Sudeikin , however, the most important thing was to maintain a good working relationship with Sergei Diaghilev, who could essentially make or break his career. As such, Sudeikin decided to make an offer of the young Kochno to Diaghilev, who was openly gay. Therefore, in 1921, at the age of 17, Boris Kochno was sent to Diaghilev by Sudeikin. The day after they met, Diaghilev offered Kochno a job as his secretary. Kochno would go on to become not only Diaghilev`s secretary, but also his librettist and eventually main collaborator. Diaghilev and Kochno were indeed lovers as well. Kochno would continue to be indispensable to the Ballets Russes, writing librettos for example for Stravinsky`s Mavra (1921), the Facheaux (1924), La Chatte, and The Prodigal Son. As of 1925, Kochno was having an affair with Cole Porter but still actively working with the Ballets Russes. Upon Diaghilev`s death in 1929, Kochno and Serge Lifar made a valiant attempt to continue the Ballets Russes, but it did not happen. Later in his career, Kochno would become the ballet director of the Monte Carlo Ballet, a co-Founder along with George Balanchine of Les Ballets 1933, and the co-Founder along with Roland Petit of the Ballets des Champs-Elysees.
Reference photographs show here [for reference only, not being sold with the lot]: Two photographs of Boris Kochno as a young man.
Estimate: $12,000 – $15,000
