Nureyev - Purple Scarf

Pencil, gouache, and watercolor on toned rag board

2001

35 1/2 × 25 1/2 in. (90.2 × 64.8 cm)

2019.6

Bequest of Phyllis Mills Wyeth, 2019

This sketch of ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev shows the dancer as he often appeared when leaving a performance—in a black beret and dramatic violet scarf, still in full stage makeup. Created eight years after the dancer’s death, this drawing is a part of a long series of portraits Jamie Wyeth made of Nureyev beginning in 1977. To ensure the greatest accuracy, Wyeth carefully measured every part of the dancer’s body, taking detailed notes in his sketchbooks. With bold, graphic lines, Wyeth recreates from memory the spectacle Nureyev presented during his lifetime.

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