Yolanda Paulina Tamara Sonnabend (26 March 1935 – 9 November 2015) was a British

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

designer and painter, primarily of portraits.

Early life

Sonnabend was born in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

(present-day

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

) the younger child of a sociologist, Dr Henry Sonnabend, and a physician, Dr Fira Sonnabend, both Jewish. Her father was of German descent and her mother was of Russian descent. They met at

Padua University The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

in the 1920s and emigrated to South Africa in 1930.''New Statesman'', Volume 111, p. 29
(1986) Her brother Joseph Sonnabend (19332021) was a scientist and HIV/AIDS researcher.

Theatre design

Sonnabend settled in England in 1954. From 1955 to 1960 she studied painting and stage design at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

. She subsequently taught at the

Camberwell School of Art Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgrad ...

, the Slade, the Central School and at the Wimbledon School of Art. Sonnabend worked as a theatre and ballet designer for the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

and the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

, as well as Sadler's Wells, the

Oxford Playhouse Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxfo ...

and Stuttgart Ballet. She designed her first ballet, "A Blue Rose" by Peter Wright, in 1957 when she was a student at the

. She first collaborated with

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. E ...

in 1963 on ''Symphony'' and worked with him for over thirty years, including ''Rituals'' (1975), '' Requiem'' (1976), '' My Brother, My Sisters'' (1978) and ''

Valley of Shadows ''Valley of Shadows'' is a 2017 Norwegian mystery drama directed by Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen and cinematography by Marius Matzow Gulbrandsen. The music from Zbigniew Preisner has been nominated to the World soundtrack Public Choice Awards. Pl ...

'' (1983). '' Swan Lake'' (1987) and ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especiall ...

'' (1980) are some of her key achievements with the

. She was also a painter with

and Physicist Stephen Hawking being two of her most noteworthy subjects.

Art career

In 2001, Sonnabend won the inaugural

Garrick/Milne Prize The Garrick/Milne Prize was a biennial art prize which served to revive the art of theatrical painting and portraiture. The prize was set up by the Garrick Club in memory of A. A. Milne, a past member. Originally £20,000, the prize was last held ...

for theatrical painting and portraiture. She was the subject of three National Portrait Gallery portraits. In 2000 she was awarded the Garrick/Milne Prize for theatrical portraiture. Nine of her pieces are in the collection of London’s National Portrait Gallery. A retrospective of her work was held at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1985-86.

Death

Sonnabend died in England on 9 November 2015, aged 80. She was unmarried and survived by her brother, Dr Joseph Sonnabend. Earlier in the year, Yolanda and Joseph Sonnabend were profiled in the documentary film '' Some Kind of Love''."Some Kind of Love: Thomas Burstyn"
'' Exclaim!'', June 12, 2015.

References

External links

Yolanda Sonnabend , Exhibitions on artist-info.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnabend, Yolanda 1935 births 2015 deaths Academics of Wimbledon College of Arts Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Ballet designers British people of German-Jewish descent British people of Russian-Jewish descent People from Bulawayo British theatre designers Women theatre designers Zimbabwean people of Jewish descent