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PH1728
Photographs: PH1728
Title
Alisa Georgievna Koonen as Masha
Subject
Koonen, Alisa Georgievna
Artist
Fischer, Karl
Date
1911
Dimensions
height: 13.8cm
width: 8.7cm
width: 8.7cm
Provenance
Presented by Michael Gaunt, September 2023.
Other number
E0146
This postcard depicts Alisa Georgievna Koonen in the role of Masha, a singer, in Leo Tolstoy's play 'The Living Corpse'.
Koonen joined the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) in 1905, which had been formed seven years earlier in 1898. MAT was founded by the actor Konstantin Stanislavski and the writer and drama teacher, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. They wanted to break away from the state-run theatres, bring back high standards and professionalism in acting, and strive towards emotional truth and realism in their performances. Leo Tolstoy wrote ‘The Living Corpse’ in 1900 but it was published after his death in 1910. It was staged by MAT on 5 October 1911 and was the second of two plays by Tolstoy that the company produced.
‘The Living Corpse’ follows the story of Fedor Protasov, who fakes his own death to escape his unhappy marriage. His wife, believing he has died marries her lover. Protasov then meets Masha a gypsy singer and starts a relationship with her. When his true identity comes to light, his wife is taken to court and charged with bigamy. To relieve himself of the guilt he feels for lying to his wife, he shoots himself, becoming no longer a living corpse but a real one.
Koonen wears a black dress with lace panelling and puff sleeves, her hair is slicked back in a bun, she is sitting down with her arms resting on a chair and she looks to the side.
The postcard was published by A. A. Gorozhankin and the photo was taken by Karl Fischer, a prominent German-born Russian photographer who was the official photographer for Imperial Theatres between 1892-1915.
Koonen joined the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) in 1905, which had been formed seven years earlier in 1898. MAT was founded by the actor Konstantin Stanislavski and the writer and drama teacher, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. They wanted to break away from the state-run theatres, bring back high standards and professionalism in acting, and strive towards emotional truth and realism in their performances. Leo Tolstoy wrote ‘The Living Corpse’ in 1900 but it was published after his death in 1910. It was staged by MAT on 5 October 1911 and was the second of two plays by Tolstoy that the company produced.
‘The Living Corpse’ follows the story of Fedor Protasov, who fakes his own death to escape his unhappy marriage. His wife, believing he has died marries her lover. Protasov then meets Masha a gypsy singer and starts a relationship with her. When his true identity comes to light, his wife is taken to court and charged with bigamy. To relieve himself of the guilt he feels for lying to his wife, he shoots himself, becoming no longer a living corpse but a real one.
Koonen wears a black dress with lace panelling and puff sleeves, her hair is slicked back in a bun, she is sitting down with her arms resting on a chair and she looks to the side.
The postcard was published by A. A. Gorozhankin and the photo was taken by Karl Fischer, a prominent German-born Russian photographer who was the official photographer for Imperial Theatres between 1892-1915.
