Artist: ANONYMOUS
Size: 42 1/8 x 58 5/8 in./107 x 149 cm
Condition: Cond B+/Unobtrusive folds.
Printer: Lith. F. Appel, Paris
Reference: Ref: Folies-Bergère, 20

Folies-Bergère/Nala Damajanti. ca. 1890.
“Louis Léon Martin wrote, referring to the music hall: ‘The entire world is at your disposal: Hawaii with its nostalgic guitars, the Orient and its disquieting equilibrists and jugglers, America with its eccentrics, its girls and dancers, and India with its snake charmers and magi, and more. The limits of the possible have naturally receded.’ In fact, this thought can perfectly well be applied to the Folies-Bergère; during one evening, attractions from the four corners of the world were presented, including, between the acts, the Oriental Garden and a Gypsy band and, as a main feature, such astonishing things as a real Zulu dance company. The snake charmers, male and female, have always been India's export to the music halls of the world. Such is the case with Nala Damajanti of whom we know very little except that the poster lithographed by Appel for her appearance at the Folies-Bergère is considered one of the most beautiful. In the foreground we see her in traditional costume, surrounded by serpents. In the middleground, represented as a poster within a poster, she is performing a see-saw act with her reptiles. The whole, well constructed and colored, strikes the eye and the imagination” (Folies-Bergère, p.6).