- Bakst, Léon
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orig. Lev Samuilovich Rosenbergborn Jan. 27, 1866, St. Petersburg, Russiadied Dec. 28, 1924, Paris, FranceRussian painter and stage designer.He attended the Imperial Academy of Arts at St. Petersburg and studied in Paris. In 1898 he cofounded the journal Mir Iskusstva ("World of Art") with Sergey Diaghilev. He began designing scenery for the imperial theatres in 1900. In Paris he designed sets and costumes for Diaghilev's new Ballets Russes. His bold designs and sumptuous colours, conveying an exotic "Orientalism," won him international fame. His designs for a London production of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty in 1921 are regarded as his greatest work.
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▪ Russian artistoriginal name Lev Samoylovich Rosenbergborn January 27 [February 8, New Style], 1866, St. Petersburg, Russiadied December 28, 1924, Paris, FranceRussian artist who revolutionized theatrical design both in scenery and in costume.Bakst attended the Imperial Academy of Arts at St. Petersburg but was expelled after painting a too-realistic “Pietà.” He returned to Russia after completing his studies in Paris and became a court painter. He was a cofounder with Sergey Diaghilev (Diaghilev, Sergey Pavlovich) of the journal Mir Iskusstva (“World of Art”) in 1899. Bakst began to design scenery in 1900, first at the Hermitage court theatre and then at the imperial theatres. In 1906 he went to Paris, where he began designing stage sets and costumes for Diaghilev's newly formed ballet company, the Ballets Russes. The first Diaghilev ballet for which he designed decor was Cléopâtre (1909), and he was chief set designer thereafter, working on the ballets Scheherazade and Carnaval (both 1910), Le Spectre de la rose and Narcisse (both 1911), L'Après-midi d'un faune and Daphnis et Chloé (both 1912), and Les Papillons (1914). Bakst achieved international fame with his sets and costumes, in which he combined bold designs and sumptuous colours with minutely refined details to convey an atmosphere of picturesque, exotic Orientalism. In 1919 Bakst settled permanently in Paris. His designs for a London production of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty in 1921 are regarded as his greatest work.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
