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Object Timeline
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1921 |
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1981 |
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1991 |
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2014 |
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2015 |
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2025 |
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Drawing, Costume Design for a Boyar
This is a Drawing. It was created by Alexandra Exter. It is dated 1921 and we acquired it in 1981. Its medium is brush and gouache, graphite on buff-colored wove paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.
This boyar may be old and wizened, but the costume he sports is cutting-edge. His cloak and cap are cut from geometric patterns, in a modern take on medieval fashion. Boyars were high-ranking aristocrats who advised the princes of medieval Russia, but this one wouldn’t look out of place in a cubist or constructivist painting. In step with these artistic movements, designer Alexandra Exter reduces the traditional, ornate uniform of a boyar into elemental shapes and contours. This innovative costume was likely intended for an avant-garde opera or play. Exter was attracted to the dynamism of theater, and in her many theatrical designs, she sought to capture an actor’s movement in three dimensions. In this drawing, a structured column of cloth extends from the boyar’s torso to his toes. The architectonic outfit would be conducive to slow, stately movements, befitting of a dignified aristocrat.
This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Costume on the Cutting Edge.
This object was
bequest of
Simon Lissim.
It is credited Bequest of Simon Lissim.
Its dimensions are
45.7 x 36.7 cm (18 x 14 7/16 in.) Mat: 55.9 x 40.6 cm (22 x 16 in.)
It has the following markings
Stamps: verso: in black ink, lower right: COLLECTION / OF / SIMON LISSIM; in purple ink, upper left, verso, a Russian-language stamp.
It is signed
Signed in pen and black ink, lower right: A. Exter
It is inscribed
Inscribed in pen and red ink, upper left: illegible inscription in Russian and illegible signature, and dated May 31, 1921; on verso in graphite, upper left: No. 94; center: encircled 26.
Cite this object as
Drawing, Costume Design for a Boyar; Alexandra Exter (Ukrainian, 1882–1949); Russia; brush and gouache, graphite on buff-colored wove paper; 45.7 x 36.7 cm (18 x 14 7/16 in.) Mat: 55.9 x 40.6 cm (22 x 16 in.); Bequest of Simon Lissim; 1981-37-18
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The Cooper-Hewitt Collections: A Design Resource.
