1928, Foujita, daily weight-training session in the company of Youki. Trousers designed and sewn by himself. Photo courtesy of Sylvie Buisson.
Excerpt from the Bal olympique catalogue, Paris, July 1924, B.N., Paris
Foujita, Fernand Léger, Chana Orloff, Marie Vassilieff, Picasso and the others.
100 years ago, 50 artists of all backgrounds and nationalities were enlisted to enliven the Paris 1924 Olympic Games in the best possible way.
They were all in Paris within a stone’s throw of one another. Their studios were neighbours. They frequented the same bistros, terraces and dance halls. Modern women and men, painters and sculptors, they were almost all famous and almost wealthy. They then hastened to get to work, for the times were festive—and they were well accustomed to it!
It was also a matter of making a statement, and at the same time coming to the aid of the most disadvantaged among them. It was both an opportunity to innovate and a pretext to help those most affected.
Thus, all vied in ideas, talent and expertise, ensuring—in record time—the success of a madcap adventure. Voluntarily, of course, they provided the sets, costumes, and the sporting and musical entertainment for a grand celebration held on 11 July in Paris and in Colombes.
It was to the very active Union of Russian Artists that the credit for this Bal Olympique belonged. It was held on Friday 11 July at the Taverne de l’Olympia, bd des Capucines, and at the Olympiade in Colombes, from midnight to 6 a.m., for the benefit of the Artists’ Relief Fund.
The solidarity of the artists of the Roaring Twenties was matched, at that time, only by the joy of working side by side between Montmartre and Montparnasse.
Good athletes, excellent dancers, natural performers, they knew how to offer Paris—and thus the whole world—mythical performances that remain in the annals of history.
1924 Bal olympique, catalogue cover
Foujita, an accomplished judoka, rose to the very top of stardom. Fernand Léger and Marie Vassilieff vied with surreal ideas for the costumes of the Swedish Ballets; Sam Granovsky worked on the sets; Picasso drew for the catalogue; Olga Koklova danced; Gontcharova enlisted for the puppets and their sets; Lanskoy, Mané-Katz, Tchelitcheff, Marcoussis and Alice Halicka were everywhere; Chana Orloff and Kisling were at the bar. All were in costume and masked, utterly unleashed.
Sam Granovsky
… One would have loved to have been a fly on the wall that evening, 100 years ago!
A costume, signed by Marie Vassilieff.
Bal olympique catalogue 1924 – Vassilieff
Bal olympique catalogue 1924 – Picasso