JAMES BAILEY (BRITISH c.1925-1980)

JAMES BAILEY (BRITISH c.1925-1980)
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DESIGN FOR COURT LADY, ACT I, GISELLE
signed and inscribed James Bailey / Design for Court Lady / Act I / Giselle lower right
pen and ink and watercolour over traces of pencil on paper
45 x 37cm (irregular)
unframed

Executed circa 1946, the present work is one of the costumes designs Bailey completed for the ballet Giselle at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. As Bailey's first commission for the stage after graduating in 1946 from the Slade School of Art, the production launched his career. His romantic, atmospheric style, influenced by the work of Messel (1904-1978), made him a much sought-after set and costume designer. Other commissions included for a 'Victorian' Hamlet at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1948 and As You Like It starring Katharine Hepburn in New York in 1950. Ill health caused him to give up his theatre work and from 1960 he concentrated on painting.

offered for sale without reserve