Chiparus Dmitry

An outstanding master of chamber sculpture who made a significant contribution to the development of the Art Deco style. His fame is associated with the Paris Salons, where he regularly exhibited for a decade and a half. Having fully mastered the chryselephantine technique, successfully combining painted or patinated bronze, enamel painting and bone in one object, the sculptor achieved a bright decorative effect that constituted the basis and essence of the Art Deco style. In this sculpture, the great Russian dancers Vaslav Nijinsky and Ida Rubinstein are shown performing a Persian dance from the ballet Scheherazade, which premiered in Paris in 1910 as part of Diaghilev’s famous “Russian Seasons”. The sculptor dedicated several compositions to this subject, created over a number of years in the 1920s and 1930s.