Sale 2578 | Lot 68
Additional images and condition
13
Sale 2578 - Lot 68
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
CECIL BEATON (1904-1980)
"The French Market - New Orleans."
Original stage set illustration for the musical Saratoga, which premiered at the Winter Garden Theatre, 1959. Watercolor, wash, and ink. With a full-sized ink sketch of market on verso. 317x483 mm; 12 1/2x19 inches, sheet. Signed "Beaton" in lower left image, titled "The French Market" to its left, and "New Orleans" in lower left margin (both also in Beaton's hand). Also present is a rough sketch in lower right margin and stamp of United Scenic Artists overlapping corner of sketch and into image.
Condition:
Removed from an old matte, leaving remnants of old masking tape along top and side verso edges; some matte burn, and discoloration around extreme edges along with some small chips and creases that do not affect image.
There is a 3-inch hard tear to lower left portion of image that has a non-archival repair on verso (affecting sketch).
Beaton won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design and was nominated for Best Scenic Design for a Musical in 1960 for this production. Saratoga, based on the novel "Saratoga Trunk" by Edna Ferber, was directed by Morton Da Costa and produced by Robert Fryer, with a musical score by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It opened on December 7, 1959 and ran for 80 performances through February 13, 1960.
This charming and colorful design for the market with a lovely full-sized outline sketch on the verso displays Beaton's talent for capturing depth and detail of a scene.
This charming and colorful design for the market with a lovely full-sized outline sketch on the verso displays Beaton's talent for capturing depth and detail of a scene.