Object Timeline
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Drawing, Costume Design: King of the North, for The Prince of the Pagodas
This is a Drawing. It was designed by Desmond Heeley. It is dated 1957 and we acquired it in 1990. Its medium is brush and watercolor, white gouache, graphite on paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.
Desmond Heeley is widely respected as a costume and set designer in England, Canada, and the United States. Beginning his career with the Royal Shakespeare Compay in 1948, he proceeded to design for all the major theater companies in England as well as for Stratford, Ontario and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Heeley is also acclaimed for his designs for opera and ballet. His work for the Sadler-Wells Ballet includes, The Prince of the Pagodas (1957), for which the drawing under consideration was executed. This ballet, with music by Benjamin Britten and choreography and scenario by John Cranko, premiered in London, January 1, 1957, and in New York, September 19, 1957, to very mixed reviews: only Desmond Heeley's costume designs received universal praise. This drawing is for one of the kings from the four corners of the earth who seeks the hand of the heiress to the throne of the Middle Kingdom. The finished costume for the King of the North corresponds exactly to the drawing.
It is credited Gift of John Gregory.
Cite this object as
Drawing, Costume Design: King of the North, for The Prince of the Pagodas; Designed by Desmond Heeley (British, 1931–2016); England; brush and watercolor, white gouache, graphite on paper; Gift of John Gregory; 1990-121-1
