BARRY KAY ARCHIVE

London

Scenery Designs for Métaboles

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Preliminary Sketches for the Set

Ballet de l'Opéra
Théâtre National Opéra de Paris
Gala Première 1978/NOV/23
Occasion: Soirée MacMillan

from a tableau of ten Drawings

crayon on black construction paper
tableau: 25 x 32.5 cm; 9.8 x 12.6 ins

Collection Barry Kay Archive

[DSN/Bt.MB/S-012]

Final Set Design

[DSN/Bt.MB/S-018]

Mezzotint cum Lithograph
five Artist's Proofs
limited editon of 50 prints
on hand-made paper
68 x 90 cm; 25.75 x 35.5 ins

represented at:
Victoria & Albert Museum, Theatre Collections, London
McNay Art Museum, Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts, Austin, Texas
Collection Lady MacMillan
Collection Alessandro d'Arco

The backdrop of the Métaboles model, arranged in three sections of backlit x-rays of the human body, consists of enlarged reproductions on film. To illustrate the subtle tonal nuances as realistically as possible in a two-dimensional design, Barry Kay opted for a combination of a photomechanically produced Mezzotint and a hand-drawn Lithograph, instead of creating a drawing. To facilitate backlighting on stage, the x-ray images were painted on gauze.

Kay began implementing this idea prior to the première date. Having to meet the theatre's deadline of submitting the set design, however, only allowed him to pursue the elaborate and time-consuming printmaking process later on. Eventually, on 20 March 1979, he published the print edition to coincide with the opening of an exhibition of "Four MacMillan Designers" held at the Decor Gallery, Knightsbridge, London.

The Barry Kay Archive houses the model as well as the unsold remainder of the print edition. Interested buyers please contact the Curator.

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