Michael (Michel) Sevier

Michel Sevier’s cut-out designs for the Ballerina and the Moor in Petrushka are preparatory designs for wooden figures of the Ballets Russes dancers who performed in the London ballet productions and are a colourful and whimsical tribute to Sergei Diaghilev’s company. Bookseller and dance historian Cyril Beaumont conceived these two-dimensional objects as ‘something between a photograph and a statuette… that would preserve the pose, feeling and colour of the dancer’ (J.Pritchard (ed.), Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909-1929, London: V&A Publishing, 2010, p.184). As the curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum Andrew Kirk writes, they ‘were cut by the Aldon Studios and then hand-painted by the artist who had done the design. The figures could be bought at Beaumont’s shop or by post… and cost seven shillings and sixpence each’ (ibid.) To assist the artists, Diaghilev provided them with passes to watch the company’s performances and gain access backstage.

The wooden figure of the Moor, based on the cut-out in the present lot, forms part of the V&A collection. The figure represents the dancer Nicholas Zvereff in Mikhail Fokine's ballet Petrushka, which premiered in 1910 with designs by Alexander Benois.

Following the success of his wooden figures Beaumont oversaw a publication of a series entitled Impressions of the Russian Ballet, of which ten volumes saw light between 1918 and 1920. Sevier was yet again enlisted for the task. The volumes on Petrushka, Children’s Tales and La Boutique Fantasque were published in 1919 and featured his decorations. The Petrushka publication features the two cut-outs as part of a page header, the ballerina pictured in a slightly different pose, a classic first ballet position.

While little is known about Sevier’s life, we know that he regularly exhibited in London’s galleries in the 1920s, including as part of The London Group. Sevier also exhibited his works at the Venice Biennale during the 1920s-1930s. Contemporary press reviews refer to him as a Russian artist, with the Evening Standard journalist commending his works in 1925 as ‘full of interest to admirers of modern forms of painting’. A black and white photograph by Cecil Beaton preserved in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery shows Sevier alongside Italian writer and socialite Vittoria Colonna, Duchess of Sermoneta.