Léon Bakst (1866-1924)
Nationality: Russian, Jewish
Art Movement: Art Nouveau
Painting School: Mir Iskusstva (World of Art)
Genre: design
Field: painting, design, illustration
Influenced on: Marc Chagall
Pupils: Marc Chagall
Art institution: Académie Julian, Paris, France; Zvantseva School of Drawing and Painting, St. Petersburg, Russia
Léon Bakst belonged to the young generation of European artists who rebelled against 19th century stage realism. As there were no specialist trained theatre designers, Léon Bakst turned his painting skills to theatre design. Bakst is known for his exotic sets and costume designs for the Diaghilev Ballets Russes, and huge pageant spectaculars for dancer and patron, Ida Rubinstein.
We have selected for you five famous works of the artist.
1. Elisium (1906)
2. Set Design for Scheherazade (1910)
3. Costume design for a bacchante in ‘Narcisse’ by Tcherepnin (1911)
4. The sleeping beauty design for scene IV (the awakening) (1921)
5. Istar Ida Rubinstein as Istar (1924)
Have your favorite painting of Bakst or another Russian painter?
Share with us in the comments!
Beautiful!