Vaslav Nijinsky in Le Spectre de la Rose (1913): Art, History and Details

Vaslav Nijinsky in Le Spectre de la Rose (1913) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Auguste Bert (French, 1856–before 1945).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Phantom of the Rose tells the story of a young woman who returns from her first ball with a souvenir rose. She dreams that the flower becomes a phantom who dances with her, the role played by Vaslav Nijinsky. This ballet became one of the most beloved productions of the Ballets Russes, which toured Europe and North and South America between 1909 and 1929.

Object facts

• Title: Vaslav Nijinsky in Le Spectre de la Rose
• Date: 1913
• Creator attribution: Auguste Bert (French, 1856–before 1945)
• Culture: France, 20th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: Halftone photogravure
• Dimensions: Image: 19.4 x 12.8 cm (7 5/8 x 5 1/16 in.); Paper: 20.4 x 13.7 cm (8 1/16 x 5 3/8 in.)
• Collection: PH - French 20th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2019.44

A detail from the museum

Nijinsky, who played the rose, had to be sewn into his costume covered with silk rose petals for each show.

Collection credit

Sundry Art - Photography Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.