Oliver Messel - Costume Design for a Soldier
Oliver Messel - Costume Design for a Soldier
OLIVER MESSEL
(1904-1978)
Costume Design for a Soldier - Samson - 1958
Signed l.r., and inscribed u.r.: Soldier
Watercolour heightened with gold and silver paint over chalk
Framed
35 by 23.5 cm.; 13 ¾ by 9 ¼ in.
(frame size 57 by 44.5 cm., 22 ½ by 17 ½ in.)
Provenance:
From the Collection of Roy Astley
Born in London, Messel was the grandson of the illustrator Linley Sambourne. After Eton he studied art at the Slade School of Art and by the early 1930s had established himself as one of Britain’s principal stage designers. Initially working for the Cochran Revues, he went on to design for many theatrical, operatic, ballet and film productions. His books included Stage Designs and Costumes, 1933; Designs for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1957 and Delightful Food, 1958. He exhibited at the Leicester Galleries and Redfern Gallery and also designed interiors and gardens of the Dorchester Hotel, Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire and elsewhere as well as several houses and grounds in Barbados and Mustique. The Victoria & Albert Museum hold the majority of his design archives.
Messel designed the sets and costumes for the Covent Garden’s 1958 production of Handel’s Samson. Performed to commemorate the bicentenary of Handel’s death, it was the first time the oratorio has been performed at Covent Garden. A number of sketches for the set and costumes of this production are in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
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Costume Design for a Soldier - Samson - 1958Signed l.r., and inscribed u.r.: SoldierWatercolour heightened with gold and silver paint over chalkFramed35 by 23.5 cm.; 13 ¾ by 9 ¼ in.(frame size 57 by 44.5 cm., 22 ½ by 17 ½ in.)Provenance:From the Collection of Roy AstleyBorn in London, Messel was the grandson of the illustrator Linley Sambourne. After Eton he studied art at the Slade School of Art and by the early 1930s had established himself as one of Britain’s principal stage designers. Initially working for the Cochran Revues, he went on to design for many theatrical, operatic, ballet and film productions. His books included Stage Designs and Costumes, 1933; Designs for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1957 and Delightful Food, 1958. He exhibited at the Leicester Galleries and Redfern Gallery and also designed interiors and gardens of the Dorchester Hotel, Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire and elsewhere as well as several houses and grounds in Barbados and Mustique. The Victoria & Albert Museum hold the majority of his design archives.Messel designed the sets and costumes for the Covent Garden’s 1958 production of Handel’s Samson. Performed to commemorate the bicentenary of Handel’s death, it was the first time the oratorio has been performed at Covent Garden. A number of sketches for the set and costumes of this production are in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.){kind=link}