Eugene Berman was a Russian-American painter and set and costume designer for ballet and opera. This collection consists of design sketches and one statuette of his work.
Eugene Berman (1899-1972) was a Russian-American painter and set and costume designer for ballet and opera. The brother of the painter Leonid Berman, Eugene Berman was born in St. Petersburg, educated in art at the Académie Ranson in Paris from 1920 to 1922, and immigrated to America in 1937, where he began his career in theater. Artistically he was noted for his Baroque and surrealist designs. He worked on hundreds of Metropolitan Opera productions, as well as performances for European opera companies. He married the American actress Ona Munson (903-1955) in 1950, retired in 1957, and died while living in Rome in 1972.
The collection consists of four items: three illustrations and one statuette. One illustration is for a theatrical production and the other two illustrations are possibly for a production of the opera Fidelio. The statuette is possibly a design for a ballet set.
Donated by John Day in 2019.
Processed by Stacey Ference in 2020.