Male Figure in Ballet Costume

Male Figure in Ballet Costume

T Remy

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Male figure in a ballet costume made up of a tonnelet over a chemise, tight-fitting breeches, stockings, decorated with large grotesque figures on the calf, and high heeled, round-toed shoes with rosettes with pointed petaloids. A cape, decorated with pointed lace motifs, and a headdress, made up of fabric wrapped elaborately around the hair and decorated with a grotesque brooch flanked by a thin feather, complete the costume. A drawing of a female figure by the same hand, bearing a similar inscription, was sold at Piasa, Paris, December 3, 2014 (lot 8). Both appear to be signed "T Remy," an artist about whom nothing is known.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Male Figure in Ballet CostumeMale Figure in Ballet CostumeMale Figure in Ballet CostumeMale Figure in Ballet CostumeMale Figure in Ballet Costume

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.