*ALEXANDRE NIKOLAYEVICH BENOIS (1870-1960) Two costume designs for Verdi's 'Un Ballo in Maschera'

*ALEXANDRE NIKOLAYEVICH BENOIS (1870-1960) Two costume designs for Verdi's 'Un Ballo in Maschera' (A Masked Ball) 'Anckarstrom (Renato)', signed and dated 1927, with further pencil inscriptions, watercolour, 21.5cm x 15.75cm and the companion 'Les Conspirateurs' monogrammed and further inscribed in pencil, watercolour, 24cm x 16.5cm; together with a stage design, indistinctly inscribed and dated 1928 in pencil, pastel, 14cm x 21cm (3) Alexandre Benois was a Russian artist, art critic, historian, preservationist, and founding member of Mir iskusstva (World of Art), an art movement and magazine. As a designer for the Ballets Russes under Sergei Diaghilev, Benois exerted what is considered a seminal influence on modern ballet and stage design.