Oriental Scene

Léon Bakst prints bring the exotic colour, swirling movement and theatrical glamour of the Ballets Russes into your home. Bakst was a Russian painter and designer whose costumes and sets for Sergei Diaghilev's company dazzled Paris and influenced fashion and design across Europe. Our collection of fine art prints covers his costume designs for Schéhérazade, Narcisse, Le Dieu Bleu and The Sleeping Princess, his portraits and his paintings.

About Léon Bakst

Léon Bakst was born Leyb-Khaim Rosenberg in Grodno, now in Belarus, on 8 February 1866, into a middle-class Jewish family. He grew up in St Petersburg, won a drawing competition at twelve and decided to become a painter, though his parents disapproved. After his parents divorced he supported his siblings with commissions and book illustration, and attended the St Petersburg Academy of Arts, first as an auditor. He took the name Bakst for his first exhibition in 1889.

From 1893 to 1897 he lived in Paris and studied at the Académie Julian. Back in Russia he joined the circle of Sergei Diaghilev and Alexandre Benois, who in 1899 founded the magazine Mir iskusstva (World of Art), and he exhibited with them, in the Munich Secession and elsewhere.

From 1908 he worked as a designer for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, creating the décor for productions including Schéhérazade, Carnaval (1910), Le Spectre de la rose (1911), Daphnis and Chloe (1912) and The Sleeping Princess (1921). He broke with Diaghilev in 1922. He died in a clinic at Rueil-Malmaison, near Paris, on 27 December 1924.

Style and Subjects

Bakst's designs are explosions of colour: emerald, sapphire, orange and gold, with bold patterns drawn from Persian, Indian, Greek and Russian art. His costume drawings are full of movement, with dancers twisting, leaping and flinging out their arms, the fabric swirling around them.

Beyond the stage he painted portraits of his World of Art friends and the striking Symbolist vision Terror Antiquus. The store also has a dress design made up by the couturier Paquin.

Famous Works

• Alexandre Benois (1898), Russian Museum, St Petersburg. A portrait of his lifelong friend and fellow World of Art founder.
• Portrait of Serge Diaghilev and His Nanny (1906), Russian Museum, St Petersburg. The great impresario at home.
• Terror Antiquus (1908), Russian Museum, St Petersburg. A vast vision of an ancient civilisation destroyed by catastrophe.
• Schéhérazade (1910). His sensational Orientalist designs for the Ballets Russes.
• Narcisse (1911). Costume designs for the ballet on the Greek myth.
• Le Dieu Bleu. Jewel-coloured Indian-inspired costumes.
• The Butterfly (Costume Design for Anna Pavlova) (1913), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A delicate design for the great ballerina.
• The Sleeping Princess (1921). Costume designs for Diaghilev's 1921 production.

Decorating with Bakst Prints

Bakst's costume designs are made for dramatic, colourful rooms. A group of dancers, like the Schéhérazade odalisques or Costume Design for Firebird, makes a vivid gallery wall in a living room, dressing room or hallway, and suits maximalist, bohemian and Art Deco interiors.

They are a natural choice for a music room, dance studio or for anyone who loves ballet and theatre.

FAQ

Who was Léon Bakst?

Léon Bakst (1866–1924) was a Russian painter and stage designer, best known for his costumes and sets for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.

Which ballets did Bakst design?

His productions included Schéhérazade, Carnaval (1910), Le Spectre de la rose (1911), Narcisse, Daphnis and Chloe (1912) and The Sleeping Princess (1921).

What was Mir iskusstva?

Mir iskusstva (World of Art) was a Russian magazine and artistic movement founded in 1899 by Diaghilev and Alexandre Benois. Bakst was a key member.

Where can I see Bakst's work?

The Russian Museum and Tretyakov Gallery hold his paintings, and his designs are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Related Artists

• Konstantin Korovin: fellow World of Art member and theatre designer
• Ivan Bilibin: Russian designer of the World of Art circle
• George Barbier: French designer inspired by the Ballets Russes
• Gerda Wegener: Paris fashion illustrator of the same era