Valentina Blinova and Valentin Froman, 1938

Signed and dated in pencil on image lower right.

Provenance
Dupain Estate
Rex Dupain, the artist’s son Private collection, Sydney

Image size: 35.9 × 27.7 cm

Framed size: 64 x 53.6 cm

Valentina Blinova was a principal dancer with the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet during its first tour of Australia and New Zealand (1936–1937), where her principal partners included dancers Léon Woizikowski, Igor Youskevitch and Valentin Froman. Dupain photographed the Ballets Russes during their Australian seasons, capturing both performance and behind-the-scenes imagery. This work depicts Blinova performing alongside Froman, reflecting Dupain’s engagement with the theatrical and modernist currents of the late 1930s. The Ballets Russes toured Australia extensively between 1936 and 1940, and Dupain’s photographs from this period remain among his most significant documentary works.