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PH1732
Photographs: PH1732
Title
Vasily Ivanovich Kachalov as Hamlet
Subject
Artist
Fischer, Karl
Date
1912
Dimensions
height: 13.8cm
width: 8.5cm
width: 8.5cm
Provenance
Presented by Michael Gaunt, September 2023.
Other number
E0146
This postcard depicts Vasily Ivanovich Kachalov as Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet’.
Kachalov was an early member of the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT), which was formed in 1898. The actor Konstantin Stanislavski and his co-founder, the writer and drama teacher, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, 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. Stanislavski was eager to work with progressive theatre artists and in 1908 met with the modernist theatre practitioner Edward Gordon Craig, who was later invited to Russia with the view to mount a symbolist production of ‘Hamlet’. The play was produced on 23 December 1911 and it was the third of four Shakespeare plays that the company staged.
Kachalov is depicted full-length in a long Russian caftan with embroidered detail, a dagger hangs on his left side, and he looks into the distance.
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.
Kachalov was an early member of the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT), which was formed in 1898. The actor Konstantin Stanislavski and his co-founder, the writer and drama teacher, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, 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. Stanislavski was eager to work with progressive theatre artists and in 1908 met with the modernist theatre practitioner Edward Gordon Craig, who was later invited to Russia with the view to mount a symbolist production of ‘Hamlet’. The play was produced on 23 December 1911 and it was the third of four Shakespeare plays that the company staged.
Kachalov is depicted full-length in a long Russian caftan with embroidered detail, a dagger hangs on his left side, and he looks into the distance.
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.
