I love rummaging through huge boxes of magazines and books put on sale by libraries and specialised bookshops since they often hide some amazing little treasures.
While I didn't manage to find anything that interested me among the books on sale from the library at Stockholm’s Kulturhuset (though they had in stock an interesting book about costumes for the Swedish opera with some beautiful pictures…), a couple of floors above the library, I found a bookshop with a box of random art, theatre and cinema magazines on sale and found among them the Summer 2008 issue of Swedish art, culture and cinema magazine Film that also included an article about costume designer Max Goldstein, better known as “Mago”, a nickname I always loved since in Italian it means “wizard”.
Born in Berlin on 22nd March 1925, in 1939 Goldstein was reunited, along with his mother and his brother Peter, to his father who, a few years earlier, had fled from Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jews to Sweden.
As a child and at school in Berlin, young Goldstein was fascinated by the magical world of theatre and cinema and, when he grew up, he showed a stronger interest in the art of drawing.
While in Sweden he came into contact with different drama groups and started producing model sketches for costumes and sets, becoming first a newspaper artist and illustrating theatre reviews and articles for Stockholm’s leading evening papers.
In the late 40s, and precisely in 1949, Goldstein had already gained his nickname of "Mago" and was asked to design the costumes for Sven Paddock’s and Nils Perne’s production, Vi skrattar igen (We’re Laughing Again), at Stockholm’s Scala Theatre.
In 1950, Mago became the favourite costume designer for Stockholm's main three theatres – Scala, Södra Teatern and Oscars – and ended up creating costumes for over 100 stage productions.
He collaborated with Karl Gerhard on eight different variety shows, started collaborating with Ingmar Bergman in 1953 with Gycklarnas Afton (Sawdust and Tinsel) and later on produced both costumes and scenery for several of Bergman’s film, theatre and television productions (in total twelve films and several plays staged at the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre).
Mago also became a close friend of Swedish actress Harriet Andersson and of Marlene Dietrich and designed many costumes for the latter, such as the ones she wore in David Hemmings’ Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo (Just a Gigolo, 1978).
Dietrich was once quoted saying about Mago: “He’s my only true friend! Always gives, never requires” and the 130 letters and short notes written by Marlene Dietrich to Mago and sold at an auction last June were proof of this close friendship.
The letters showed an intimate and close friendship over a long period of time, and included letters about costume design and miscellaneous notes about film productions and travels.
The article on the magazine I found at the Kulturhuset is a sort of retrospective feature (Mago died in April 2008) and tries to spot the influence the costume designer’s feminine and glamorous creations had on haute couture (“A plunging neckline can be the main attraction” and “You can never come up with too much. Because that’s what reality does all the time” are among Mago’s most famous quotes and from his sketches you easily understand what he meant with such statements).
The feature also attempts to make a few comparisons with the work of another costume designer, Milena Canonero.
What I found uncanny was not spotting the magazine in the box of stuff on sale, but finding it while there is an exhibition at Stockholm’s Judiska Museet (Jewish Museum) of Mago’s set designs and costume sketches entitled “Mago – den svenska scenes elegant” (Mago: style icon of the Swedish stage).
The event is actually Sweden’s first retrospective exhibition showcasing his contribution to the country’s film and theatre scene and was possible also thanks to Peter Goldstein, Mago’s brother, who lent sketches and private objects.
When Goldstein died, a theatre critic wrote in his obituary: “It’s in his artist name, ‘Mago’, a whiff of the 50’s, that thin line accentuating body contours, the luxurious feel of velvet, silk and ostrich feathers. Ingmar Bergman saw something else in him: his extreme sense of form. They triumphed with ‘Hedda Gabler’ at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in 1964, a happy meeting of two unadulterated aesthetes. Mago’s stage decor (as it was then called) was an orgy pandering to Bergman’s love of red…”.
This article perfectly spotted one main characteristic of Goldstein’s work, his versatility.
Indeed Mago was a true wizard when it came to designing costumes for different genres.
Some of his creations were playful thanks to their feathery decorations; others were covered in sequins and evoked a sort of glamorous elegance, and risqué designs weren't missing thanks to costumes that left the skin exposed or that, inspired by the costumes of the Moulin Rouge, featured provocative details such as telephone dialling discs applied on the breasts.
Mago also worked on stage sets and costumes for a number of European theatres in Copenhagen, Oslo, London, Helsinki, Munich, Vienna, Malmö and Helsingborg, diversifying his experience.
The current exhibition at the Jewish Museum features also personal belongings from the early years in Berlin, such as the toy soldiers in colourful uniforms from Frederick the Great’s time that, as Mago stated in his autobiography Klä Av, Klä På (1988), he used to collect since he was a child and that inspired him every time he drew uniforms.
Yet the best pieces out of these exhibition are undoubtedly the drawings, sketches, costumes and dresses Mago designed for Stockholm's Dramaten Theatre together with the rare interview documentary by photographer and friend Bengt Wanselius that is also possible to watch with English subtitles.
“Mago – den svenska scenes elegant” is definitely the sort of biographical exhibition that has the power to appeal to costume design experts, fashion/style fans and even fashion illustrators, that's why you'd better not miss it.
“Mago: style icon of the Swedish stage” is at the Judiska Museet, Hälsingegatan 2, Stockholm, until 15th September 2010.
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