Maquette for Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Maker and role
Artist: Adrianne Lobel, American, born 1955
Year
ca. 1988
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Object detail
Media/Materials
Painted wood with watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite on paper and board, with photographs, plastic, and wire
Measurements
14 x 24 1/2 x 16 1/2in (35.6 x 62.2 x 41.9cm)
Credit line
Museum purchase with funds from the McNay Theatre Group
Accession number
2011.20.1
Object type
Department
Location
Theatre production
Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Produced by PepsiCo Summerfare, State University of New York, Purchase, New York, 1988.
Further information
To research Mozart's beloved 1786 opera, Lobel headed to Manhattan's glitzy new Trump Tower, which opened on Fifth Avenue in 1983. Dressed in her mother's fur coat and impersonating a real estate agent, Lobel took snapshots of the million dollar interiors that inspired the opera's controversial settings.
In Sellars' production, the Count and Countess Almaviva reside in a penthouse with minimalist furniture and modern art, including a relief by Frank Stella. Their valet, Figaro, and maid, Susanna, set up housekeeping in a laundry room with a pullout sleeper sofa. Originally an Enlightenment-era critique of the inherited privilege of the aristocracy, this production of The Marriage of Figaro commented on the growing income gap in Reagan-era America, dominated by "trickle-down" economic theory.
With its sensuous curves and luscious colors, Stella's sculpture is a bit out of place in Lobel's otherwise minimalist design. This "rococo" element is a witty reminder of the opera's original 18th century context.
In Sellars' production, the Count and Countess Almaviva reside in a penthouse with minimalist furniture and modern art, including a relief by Frank Stella. Their valet, Figaro, and maid, Susanna, set up housekeeping in a laundry room with a pullout sleeper sofa. Originally an Enlightenment-era critique of the inherited privilege of the aristocracy, this production of The Marriage of Figaro commented on the growing income gap in Reagan-era America, dominated by "trickle-down" economic theory.
With its sensuous curves and luscious colors, Stella's sculpture is a bit out of place in Lobel's otherwise minimalist design. This "rococo" element is a witty reminder of the opera's original 18th century context.
Copyright
© Adrianne Lobel
Documentation
Theatre Design & Technology; Winter 2014; p. 37, 41
Associated person
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