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LÈon Bakst (Lev Samoilovich Rosenberg), artist
Russian, 1866 - 1924
Costume design for the Wife of the Blue Bird in the drama La Pisanella ou la morte parfumÈe (Pisanella or The Perfumed Death), 1913
Graphite, watercolor, silver and gold paint on laid paper
37.2 x 26.4 cm (sheet)
Theater and Dance Collection, gift of Mrs. Adolph B. Spreckels T&D1962.42

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Artist Biography: Born Lev Samoilovich Rosenberg. Student at the Academy of St. Petersburg. Began calling himself LÈon Bakst (mother*s maiden name), in the late 1890s. Established himself in Moscow and adhered to the Russian academic tradition, taking his subjects from popular life. However, little by little he began to stray from the traditional, profoundly influenced by modern French art. A proponent of the new style in Russia, he founded the group "Mir Iskousstva" ("Artistic World"), but soon left Moscow and St. Petersburg for Paris (1893). Played a considerable role during the years preceding World War I as a costume decorator and designer for the famous Russian ballets directed by Serge de Diaghileff. A bold colorist, possessing a heightened sense of an art in service to rhythm and subject to variations in lighting, Bakst realized a bold and pleasing fusion of the elements of Russian popular art and the values of modern French art, influenced notably by Aubrey Beardsley, as well as by Greek vase painting and the Fauvism of Henri Matisse. Established legal residence in Paris in 1912.

Related Keywords
Death Perfumed or parfumée morte ou Pisanella La drama in Bird Blue of Wife the for Spreckels B Adolph Mrs gift Asia Russia Drawing Entertainment Theater Literary Study Fashion Dance Music Art paper laid paint gold silver watercolor Graphite French penciled customer fabrics jewelled decollete pearls hat over veil bonnet ornate costume rich dressmaker instructions detailed design cross simple hand left her trumpet headdress cap dress long figure female standing Léon Bakst Lev Samoilovich Rosenberg Bakst~ Russian 3328201308190019 A013420 T&D1962.42 AFGA