Georges Wakhévitch

Georges Wakhévitch (Russian: Георгий Леонидович Вахевич; Georgy Leonidovich Vakhtevich; August 18, 1907 in Odessa, Russian Empire – February 11, 1984 in Paris) was a French art director. The son of a naval engineer, he immigrated to France in 1921. He was grew up in Paris, where he studied painting. He was an assistant to film director Lazare Meerson in the 1920s. Wakhévitch also designed sets and costumes for the theatre, the ballet, and the opera. His designs usually used vivid colours and successful sets for Covent Garden included Boris Godunov, Otello, Die Meistersinger and London's first ever staging of Verdi's Macbeth in 1960. He also provided Paris in 1956 with new sets for Gounod's Faust, replacing some in use for over half a century. He was the father of avant-garde composer Igor Wakhévitch.