Fourteen costume design sketches for the play "Keter David" in "Habima" theater / [ca.1928] / Gouache and pencil on paper / ca. 35X48 cm (passé par-tout) / All except for one are titled in Russian
Nice drawings in color (not signed), created by Menachem Shemi while he worked as a costume designer for the play "Keter David" in "Habima" theater, depicting the play's heroes: King David, Tamar, Ahitophel, King Salomon, Adonijah, Absalom, Amnon, and others. The premiere of the play - tragedy in three acts, directed by Alexander Diki, and with actors Aharon Meskin, Shimon Finkel, Hanna Rovina, Raphael Klachkin, and others - was held in May 1929.
During the 1930s Shemi was much involved in designing theater costumes for “Habima” and “HaOhel” theaters, and the sketches presented here are of his earliest works in this area. In 1928 Shemi went for the first time to Paris, where he won a prize in a competition of costume design for designing the set for the play “Keter David”; winning the competition was a mile-stone in Shemi’s work for the theater, and was followed by years of designing costumes and stage sets for the theater.
Enclosed is an authenticity certificate from the director of the Israeli Center for documentation of stage arts.