Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Acquired from the artist by Kawashima Riichiro (1886-1971), c. 1920
Thence by descent

EXHIBITED
Probably, Tokyo, Shiseido Gallery, Stage Set Design: Goncharova and Larionov, 1923

LITERATURE
Charles Spencer, The World of Serge Diaghilev, London, 1974, illus. pl. 15

From 1915-1930 Mikhail Larionov, primarily a stage designer, occasionally worked as a playwright and associate choreographer. He designed sets for the ballets of Diaghilev, including the 1916 production of Kikimora in St. Sebastian, set to the music by the composer A.K. Lyadov. Inspired by his trips to the Russian countryside, Lyadov began to conceive the idea for a series of symphonies based on Russian folklore in the 1880s. Kikimora therefore comprised the third production in Lyadov's 'Fairy-tale cycle,' preceded first by Baba-Yaga (1904) and then the Magical Lake (1908).

Unlike the first two symphonies in Lyadov's 'Fairy-tale cycle,' Kikimora was directly based on the writings of the folklorist Sakharov. Larionov's stage design for Kikimora is a lively interpretation of Sakharov's depiction of the phantasmagorical creature: 'Kikimora lives and grows in the enchanted rocky mountains. From sunrise to sunset the singing cat lulls Kikimora with his foreign lullabies. From dusk to dawn the cat rocks Kikimora in her glass cradle. Kikimora grows in exactly seven years. Skinny and dark is Kikimora, her head as small as a thimble, her body as thin as a single straw. She moans and groans from morning to night; she whistles and whines from sunset to midnight; from midnight to dawn she spins unruly hemp thread on her spindle, weaves rough rope and sews soft silks. Evil thoughts brew in her head at all times.'

This stage design for Kikimora was likely acquired directly from Larionov by the Japanese artist Kawashima Riichiro (1886-1971), who divided his time between Paris and Japan and was a permanent member of the well-known Salon d'Automne. Kawashima was closely acquainted with artists in the Russian avant-garde movement, particularly Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova, with whom he became good friends after a 1922 exhibition at the 'Galarie Vildrac' in Paris. Upon returning to Japan in 1923, Kawashima organized the exhibition Stage Set Design: Goncharova and Larionov in the Shiseido Gallery in Tokyo; it is likely that this stage design for 'Kikimora' was among the works exhibited there. Kawashima was the uncle of the present owner of Larionov's stage design for Kikimora, and her sister, who came into ownership of the work by direct descent within the family.