A Rooster. Costume design for Scene IV of the ballet Aleko
Marc Chagall
French, born Belarus. 1887–1985
1942
A costume sketch by Marc Chagall—rendered in gouache, watercolor, pencil, and ink—imagining a rooster as an anthropomorphic, dance-ready figure for Scene IV of the ballet Aleko, aiming to translate movement and character into a theatrical costume.
The eye is caught by a sinuous X-shaped body that fuses a woman's torso and legs with a bright red-crested rooster head, drawn in bold black contours and washed with pale, playful colors so the hybrid looks ready to leap and spin onstage.
One of Chagall’s theatrical commissions, this design exemplifies how modern artists brought poetic, dreamlike imagery to the ballet, expanding costume design into a realm of visual storytelling and surreal character-making.
Medium
Gouache, watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper
Dimensions
16 x 10 3/8" (40.6 x 26.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest (by exchange)
Accession
137.1945.41
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
