Georg Kolbe
Tamara Karsavina
1912
Brush, pencil, and ink
Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin
The dancer Tamara Karsavina (1885–1978) was one of the stars of the Ballets Russes company. She and her dance partner Nijinsky (1889–1950) visited the sculptor in his studio in December 1912, where Kolbe (1877–1947) sketched movement studies of the two. There are also photographs from the sculptor’s studio showing Karsavina posing in costume. Using both models, Kolbe developed a group of figures for the Heinrich Heine monument in Frankfurt in 1913.