Bakst Lev is Belarusian by origin, Russian in spirit, who lived for many years in France, known in history as an outstanding Russian artist, theater graphic artist, and set designer. His work anticipates many trends of the 20th century in art; it combines features of impressionism, modernism and symbolism. Bakst is one of the most stylish and sophisticated artists of Russia at the turn of the century, who had a powerful influence not only on domestic but also on world culture.

Family and childhood

Bakst Lev Samoilovich was born in 1866 into an Orthodox Jewish family in the Belarusian city of Grodno. The family was large, with patriarchal foundations. The father was a Talmudic scholar, also engaged in trade, his income was low, so his son often visited his grandfather in St. Petersburg. He was quite rich, he was a fashionable tailor, he loved luxury and high life, he led a Parisian lifestyle, which his grandson really liked. He was a big theatergoer and instilled this passion in Leo. It is in honor of his grandfather that the young man takes the surname Bakst, shortening it slightly, instead of his real one - Rosenberg, which seemed to him not at all poetic. Even as a child, the future artist loved to act out scenes of his own composition in front of his sisters; the boy had a wild imagination and a clear tendency to draw.

Vocation and studies

At the age of 12, he won the competition for the best portrait of A. Zhukovsky at the gymnasium. Bakst Lev dreamed of studying painting, but his father did not recognize such a frivolous activity in life as drawing, and for a long time the boy had to indulge in his favorite pastime secretly, at night. As a final argument, my father decided to ask advice from the sculptor Mark Antokolsky; drawings of the future painter were sent to him in Paris. And when the answer was received that the author’s talent was clearly visible in the works, the father gave up.

In 1883, the young man entered Lev Bakst as a volunteer student, whose biography is now forever associated with art, studied with teachers such as Chistyakov, Asknaziia, Veniga, and showed good results for four years. However, having lost the academy's competition for a silver medal, the young man leaves the educational institution. His work was removed from the list of participants due to the fact that all the characters in the biblical-themed painting had Jewish characteristics. The artist could not stand this. The skills he acquired at the academy will be useful to him in the future.

Finding a way in art

Having left his studies, Bakst Lev was forced to look for income; his father died, and he needed to help the family, which was mainly supported by his grandfather. It helped him that while still studying, he made connections in a publishing house, where he began to design inexpensive books. This work did not give him pleasure, but it brought him money. In 1890, he became close to the Benois brothers, they introduced Bakst to the circle of progressive creative youth. Under their influence, the artist became interested in watercolors. It was this circle, which would later develop into the artistic association “World of Art,” that shaped Bakst’s views and his direction in painting. In 1891, Lev traveled abroad for the first time; he traveled around Germany, Italy, Belgium and France, visiting museums. From 1893 to 1896 he studied in a studio in Paris. At this time, Leo first gained fame as a good watercolorist.

Bakst portrait painter

The artist Lev Bakst was forced to constantly fulfill orders that did not give him pleasure. He rested and realized his ideas in portraits, which are gradually becoming popular. They revealed the artist, his skill as a draftsman and his ability to penetrate into the psychology of the character. Having begun painting portraits in 1896, he periodically turned to this genre throughout his life. Among his best works are portraits of I. Levitan, mature works of the early 20th century, portraits of Z. Gippius, I. Rubinstein, S. Diaghilev with his nanny, J. Cocteau, V. Zucchini. Most of the artist’s creative heritage consists of drawings; he made sketches of people who attracted his attention, and sketched portraits of acquaintances and friends.

Bakst-painter

Lev Bakst, whose paintings amaze with their diversity, experimented a lot with painting techniques. He could paint with thick strokes, or he could create a complex canvas using glaze. He worked little in the landscape genre, but the available works show the artist's impressionistic vision. In the works “Near Nice”, “Olive Grove”, “Sunflowers in the Sun” the light and air of nature are felt and the author’s optimistic worldview is conveyed. Lev Bakst, whose exhibition today could gather a large number of fans of his work in any city in the world, did not feel confident in himself as a painter. He was too easily influenced by outside influences and did not develop a clear, personal style of writing. But his undoubted masterpieces are “Dinner”, “In the Cafe”, “Ancient Horror”.

Bakst and theater

Most of all, Bakst Lev Samoilovich showed his talents in theatrical works. He loved this type of art very much. Lev Bakst, whose exhibition of theatrical scenery and costumes is invariably sold out, works a lot and with great pleasure for S. Diaghilev’s theater. He brilliantly designs the ballets “Scheherazade”, “Cleopatra”, “Narcissus”, “Firebird”. Bakst became a true co-creator of the spectacle, organically embodying the director’s vision in scenery, lighting, and costumes. Since 1910, the artist has lived in Paris and collaborated with the theater. It was in collaboration with him that Bakst made a real revolution in scenography and theatrical design.

Diverse talent

Bakst Lev not only distinguished himself in painting and scenography, in fact, he was a designer. He often came up with costumes, and not only for the stage. It was he who came up with the emblem, as today they would say, the logo, for the World of Art magazine. He created interior designs for exquisite ladies' boudoirs and for Diaghilev's enterprises. Bakst also worked on creating exhibition displays. While working on theater pieces, he discovered his talent as a stylist, he drew sketches of ladies' outfits and became a real trendsetter in the Art Nouveau style. He also turned out to be a good teacher. Elizaveta Zvantseva invited Bakst to her art school in 1900, where he tried to help young talents find their own style in painting. It was he who first saw talent in his student Marc Chagall.

Personal life

Lev Bakst, whose paintings were so successful and brought him great fame, was completely unsuccessful in his personal life. His first love for the French actress Marcelle Josset was very unhappy. It ended only thanks to the artist’s departure from Paris. In St. Petersburg, he falls in love with the daughter of P. Tretyakov, who by that time was a widow with a child in her arms. Bakst accepts Lutheranism in order to marry his beloved. The marriage was unsuccessful, although the artist’s son, Andrei, was born. The couple spent a lot of time apart and eventually divorced in 1910. But he continued to be friends with his ex-wife and stepdaughter; in 1921, at his invitation, they were able to leave the Soviet Union and settle in Paris.

In the last years of his life, Bakst worked a lot in Paris, America, and England, this undermined his health, and on December 28, 1924, he died suddenly.

Lev Samoilovich Bakst (real name Leib-Haim Izrailevich Rosenberg; January 27 (February 8) 1866, Grodno - December 27, 1924, Rueil-Malmaison) was an artist, set designer, illustrator and designer who worked mainly in St. Petersburg and Paris. Master of easel painting and theatrical graphics, member of the World of Art association and theatrical and artistic projects of S. P. Diaghilev, one of the trendsetters in the European fashion for exoticism and orientalism at the beginning of the 20th century.

Leib-Chaim Izrailevich Rosenberg was born in Grodno into an Orthodox Jewish family. Father, Samuel Rosenberg, enjoyed the authority of an expert in the Talmud.

Without graduating from the 6th St. Petersburg Gymnasium, Leon entered the Academy of Arts as a volunteer, which he attended for 4 years and also did not graduate. He worked part-time as a book illustrator.

At his first exhibition (1889), he adopted the pseudonym Bakst, a derivative of his mother’s maiden name (Baxter).

In the early 1890s he exhibited at the Society of Russian Watercolor Painters. In 1893-1897 he lived in Paris, often returning to St. Petersburg.

From the mid-1890s, he joined the circle of writers and artists that formed around Sergei Diaghilev and Alexandre Benois, which later turned into the World of Art association. In 1898, together with Diaghilev, he took part in the founding of the publication of the same name. The graphics published in this magazine brought Bakst fame.

He continued to engage in easel painting, creating portraits of Alexander Benois (1899), Philip Malyavin (1899), Vasily Rozanov (1901), Andrei Bely (1905), Zinaida Gippius, Sergei Diaghilev (1906). He also taught painting to the children of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. In 1902, in Paris, he received an order from Nicholas II for the painting “Meeting of Russian Sailors.”

In 1898, Bakst showed works at the “First Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists” organized by Diaghilev; at the World of Art exhibitions, at the Secession exhibition in Munich, exhibitions of the Artel of Russian artists, etc.

Since 1899, hereditary honorary citizen of St. Petersburg.

In 1903, in Warsaw, he accepted Lutheranism for the sake of marriage with Lyubov Pavlovna Tretyakova, daughter of P. M. Tretyakov, widow of the artist N. N. Gritsenko. To enter into a marriage, he submitted a petition to the highest name to receive the surname Bakst instead of the surname Rosenberg, and received the highest permission to be called Bakst. The marriage to Lyubov Pavlovna Tretyakova quickly broke up, resumed in 1906, and again finally broke up in 1907, before the birth of their son, Andrei. In 1909, Bakst again converted to Judaism from Christianity.

During the revolution of 1905, Bakst worked for the magazines “Zhupel”, “Hellish Mail”, “Satyricon”, and later for the art magazine “Apollo”.

He taught at the school of E. N. Zvantseva. During the period 1908-1910, one of his students was Marc Chagall.

In 1909, Bakst was expelled from St. Petersburg as a Jew without the right to reside, for his demonstrative return to Judaism from Christianity.

From 1910 he lived in Paris and worked on theatrical scenery, in which he made a real revolution. He created the scenery for Greek tragedies, and since 1908 he has gone down in history as the designer of the scenery for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes (“Cleopatra” 1909, “Scheherazade”, “Firebird” 1910, “Carnival” 1910, “Narcissus”, “The Vision of a Rose”) "1911, "Daphnis and Chloe", "Afternoon of a Faun" 1912).

In 1914, Bakst was elected a member of the Academy of Arts.

In 1918, Bakst broke off relations with Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, but in 1921 he renewed his old friendship and designed for Diaghilev the ballet “The Sleeping Beauty” by P. I. Tchaikovsky, his last major production.

Bakst painted portraits of many artists: Vaslav Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Mikhail Fokin, Ida Rubinstein, Claude Debussy, Jean Cocteau and others.

Bakst had a great influence on the fashion of that time, creating fabric designs and costume models.

The nephew of Leon Bakst (the son of his sister Rosa Samuilovna Rosenberg) is the Soviet historian Albert Zakharovich Manfred.

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Lev Rosenberg was born in Grodno in 1866. However, he spent almost all of his childhood years in St. Petersburg, where his grandfather lived, who liked to call himself “a Parisian of the Second Empire.” He, indeed, always preferred luxury in everything that surrounded him. In 1891, 25-year-old Lev decided to take the sonorous surname of a “Parisian” and became Bakst.

Bakst (Rosenberg) Lev Samoilovich

Since childhood, Leva loved to play theater and stage small improvised plays in front of the audience, who were his sisters. As a 12-year-old teenager, he won the portrait competition of Vasily Zhukovsky at the gymnasium. His parents did not take his hobbies seriously, and Lyovushka often drew furtively when no one was around or at night. To avoid being noticed, he did not turn on the light, but painted near the window in the light of the moon.

To finally determine whether the boy had talent, his parents sent his “works,” as they jokingly called their son’s drawings, to a familiar sculptor M. Antokolsky in Paris. The answer came quickly - Antokolsky recommended continuing to study painting. In 1883, Lev entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts as a free student in Chistyakov’s class. His teachers were also Wenig and Asknazi. Later, the young man was unlucky in the announced competition and left the Academy.

A short time later, Bakst met A. Benois and, under his influence, enthusiastically painted in watercolors. Valentin Serov also becomes his friend.

In 1892, unique portraits painted in watercolor by Bakst appeared. In 1893, the artist left for the capital of France for three years. He visits one of the best art studios in Paris, and then takes private lessons from the painter Edelfelt. At this time, he simply falls in love with the works of the romantics and impressionists and tries to imitate them..

Bakst decides to repeat his ideal, Delacroix, and goes to Algeria. After this trip, the features of decorativism clearly appear in his work. He works hard and complains about the “unknown.” However, these words were not true. Igor Grabar writes in one of his articles that Bakst “draws excellently and in the future will undoubtedly be a wonderful colorist...”.

In 1889, a circle was created in the capital, which would later become the center of the “World of Art”. The head of the circle is A. Benois. Bakst is the oldest and only he had the Academy and art courses behind him. But this did not make him even a shadow of complacency. He attends “Musical Evenings” organized by A. Nurok and enthusiastically reads the works of modern writers.

As is known, the “modernists” of Russia were close to the German and Finnish schools of painting. And in St. Petersburg they organized an Exhibition of these painters. Many famous artists from Moscow and St. Petersburg took part in its organization. A little later, the modernists began to found their own art magazine, World of Art. The director was Sergei Diaghilev, and the art department was headed by Lev Bakst, who proposed the magazine’s emblem - the Eagle. In his graphics, Bakst often used vases from Ancient Greece, various garlands, fauns... All his drawings are light and very elegant. They fit perfectly with the text.

Bakst wanted to make the magazine exceptional in every sense. The magazine should have a unique image, he believed. He writes a lot of lithographs and receives the nickname of the incomparable “bold graphic artist.”

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the magazine held an exhibition of paintings, which was a resounding success with the public. Many laudatory reviews appear in newspapers and magazines. Bakst's works were also presented here. In the work “In the Cafe” the artist creates an amazing image of a woman – witchy, mysterious. He uses only a few vague colors. In 1903, he painted a bright and even somewhat warm portrait of L. P. Gritsenko-Bakst.

Bakst often worked on the design of exhibition halls and could easily create a sophisticated and sophisticated boudoir interior. The combination of his favorite greenish and azure undertones always looked fresh and delightful.

He was also invited to work in satirical magazines, where he established himself as an excellent, witty cartoonist. For a long time, Bakst worked on the design of Diaghilev’s world-famous “ballets”. In St. Petersburg he was considered one of the fashionable portrait painters. Ordering a ceremonial portrait from him was considered the highest chic, a symbol of prestige and prosperity.

When E. Zvantseva opened her own school of painting in St. Petersburg, Bakst taught there for some time. He taught to develop your own style, without imitating any of the celebrities. Bakst was one of the first to appreciate Chagall's amazing talent.

In 1910, Bakst worked in Paris, creating sets and costumes for a dozen performances. The true discovery of ballet to the music of Debussy in the style of expressionism was the work of Bakst and the unsurpassed V. Nijinsky.

Bakst was invited for cooperation by the management of the Paquin company and fashion houses of famous designers. The artist spent a long time in France and the USA, designing performances for the Grand Opera, Ida Rubinstein's troupe. He wrote wonderful librettos.

Lev Bakst died in December 1924. He was only fifty-eight years old. Such a short life, but how much he managed to do, how many magnificent creations he left behind in various genres of art.

Leon Bakst (1866-1924) - one of the most prominent representatives of Russian Art Nouveau, artist, set designer, master of easel painting and theatrical graphics, was born in Grodno. His father is Israel Rosenberg. Some call him a Talmudic scholar, others call him a mediocre businessman. It is possible that he was both at the same time. Israel Rosenberg named his son Leib-Chaim. Later, Leib became Leo. Leo - Leon. The usual transformation of Jewish names in the Russian-speaking environment. Soon after the birth of their son, the Rosenberg family moved from Grodno to St. Petersburg.


Portrait of a Woman, 1906

He spent his childhood in St. Petersburg, where his grandfather lived, who loved social life and luxury. Grandfather was a rich tailor. The boy grew up sickly and had a noticeable imbalance of character. From his mother he inherited a love of books and read them voraciously, at random. The child owed his first vivid impressions to his grandfather, a former Parisian who brought the chic of a French salon to his apartment on Nevsky Prospekt. Walls covered with yellow silk, antique furniture, paintings, ornamental plants, gilded cages with canaries - everything here was “not at home”, everything delighted the emotional boy. The stories of parents returning from Italian operas also caused joyful excitement.

Young Dahomean, 1895

As a boy, he enthusiastically performed in front of his sisters plays invented and staged by himself. Figures cut out from books and magazines turned into heroes of dramatizations performed in front of the sisters. But then the moment came when adults began to take the boy with them to the theater, and a magical world opened up before him. Could anyone have thought then that it was here that many years later he would find his true calling.

Portrait of Alexandre Benois, 1898

Very early on, Leo developed a passion for painting. My father resisted to the best of his ability. As a Talmudist, it’s not a Jewish thing to “paint little men.” And as a businessman. Painting was considered unprofitable. The artists, for the most part, led a semi-beggarly existence. Israel Rosenberg was a tolerant man. And, in order to make sure what the picturesque efforts of the indomitable son were, either through mutual friends or through relatives, he contacted the sculptor Mark Antokolky. The master looked at the drawings, found in them undoubted signs of talent and strongly advised him to study.

Portrait of a dancer M. Casati, 1912

The advice took effect and in 1883 young Rosenberg entered the Academy of Arts as a volunteer. The future Bakst stayed here from 1883 to 1887. Academic training did not correspond much to the trends of the era. The professors, for the most part, strictly adhered to the classical canons. And they completely ignored new trends in painting, the notorious Art Nouveau in its diverse forms and manifestations. And, to the best of our ability, we discouraged students from leaving the once and for all beaten path. Bakst did not study too hard. Failed the competition for a silver medal. After which he left the Academy. Either as a sign of protest. Either having finally lost faith.

Lady on the Sofa, 1905

After Leon Bakst left the Academy, at that time Rosenberg was still studying painting with Albert Benois. The father, apparently, refused to further finance his son’s creative endeavors. And the young artist earned his living and paid for his lessons in some publishing house. He illustrated children's books. In 1889, Leib-Chaim Rosenberg became Leon Bakst. The artist borrowed his new surname, or rather pseudonym, from his maternal grandmother, shortening it somewhat. Grandmother's last name was Baxter. The appearance of the catchy pseudonym was associated with the first exhibition at which the artist decided to present his works. It seemed to him that in the eyes of the Russian public, an artist named Leon Bakst had undeniable advantages over the artist Leib-Chaim Rosenberg.

Portrait of Zinaida Gippius, 1906

Also in 1893, Leon Bakst arrived in Paris. He studied at Jerome's studio and at the Académie Julien. In places widely known among artists all over the world, where one could learn and, accordingly, learn new art, not connected with centuries-old traditions. Life was difficult for Bakst in Paris. He lived mainly from the sales of his paintings. More precisely sketches. In a letter to a friend, Leon Bakst complained bitterly: “I am still struggling not to leave Paris... The art seller impudently takes my best sketches for a pittance.” Leon Bakst lived in Paris for six years.

Portrait of Andrei Lvovich Bakst, son of the artist, 1908

From time to time he came to St. Petersburg. Either to unwind and relax, or to make new connections and exchange impressions. During one of his visits, Leon Bakst met the Neva Pickwickians. It was a self-education circle organized by the famous Russian artist, art historian, and art critic Alexander Benois. The circle included Konstantin Somov, Dmitry Filosofov, Sergei Diaghilev and some other artists, art critics and writers, who eventually formed the famous artistic association “World of Art”.

Portrait of the future Countess Henri de Boisgelin, 1924

In 1898, the first issue of the magazine "World of Art" was published - the organ of an artistic association and a group of symbolist writers. The editor of the magazine was Sergei Diaghilev. The magazine's editorial office was located in the editor's house; the first years on Liteiny Prospekt, 45, and from 1900 on the Fontanka River Embankment, 11. The art department of the magazine was headed by Leon Bakst. He also came up with a stamp for the magazine with an eagle “reigning arrogantly, mysteriously and lonely on a snowy peak.” The art department of the magazine widely exhibited works by outstanding representatives of domestic and foreign painting. This determined the high artistic and aesthetic level of the publication, made it a mouthpiece for new trends in art, and influenced the development of Russian culture at the turn of the century.

Model

In 1903, Bakst became friends with the widow of the artist Gritsenko, Lyubov Pavlovna. She was the daughter of an eminent merchant, a great connoisseur and collector of paintings, the founder of the world famous gallery P.M. Tretyakov. Tretyakov adhered to liberal views and had nothing against Jews in general, and Bakst himself in particular. I appreciated him as an artist. I willingly bought paintings. But Baksta did not perceive Baksta as a son-in-law as a Jew. A Jew - no matter what. But a Jew, a person associated with Jewish religion, did not fit into centuries-old family traditions. And Bakst had to make concessions. According to one version, he converted from Judaism to Lutheranism. According to another, he became Orthodox in order to perform a church wedding ceremony.

Portrait of Walter Fedorovich Nouvel, 1895

In 1907, Bakst had a son, Andrei (in the future - a theater and film artist, died in 1972 in Paris). The marriage turned out to be fragile. In 1909, Leon Bakst left the family. The divorce did not affect the relationship with his ex-wife. They remained invariably friendly. When Lyubov Pavlovna left Russia with her son in 1921, Leon Bakst supported them financially until the end of his days. Another thing is interesting. Soon after the divorce, Christian convert Leon Bakst returned to the faith of his fathers.

Portrait of Anna Pavlova, 1908

In 1909, in accordance with the new law on Jews in the Russian Empire, he was asked to leave St. Petersburg. Bakst had extensive connections. Many influential acquaintances. The Imperial Court used his services. But he decided not to resort to anyone's help. And he left for Paris. The powers that be changed their anger to the mercy of those in power in 1914. This year Bakst was elected a member of the Academy of Arts. And in this capacity, regardless of religion, he had the right to live wherever he pleased.

Portrait of a girl. 1905

From 1908 to 1910, during visits from Paris to St. Petersburg, Leon Bakst taught at Zvantseva's private painting school. One of Bakst's students was Marc Chagall. Bakst drew attention to the remarkable talent of the young Chagall. Although, as they write, he did not entirely approve of him and was strict in his assessments. For all his innovation, Bakst believed that for an artist, regardless of direction, nature should serve as a model. Chagall's alogisms and Chagall's notorious "picture mania" embarrassed him. Chagall's fellow student Obolenskaya recalled that, looking at Chagall's painting of a violinist sitting on a mountain, Bakst could not understand how the violinist managed to drag such a large chair up such a large mountain.

Portrait of Andrei Bely, 1905

Chagall wanted to follow his teacher to Paris. He was irresistibly drawn to Europe. Bakst was against it. “So you are happy with the prospect of dying among 30 thousand artists flocking to Paris from all over the world,” he said. Judging by the manuscript of Chagall's book "My Life", Bakst simply cursed his student. Chagall's wife Bella, while preparing the book for publication, blotted out several out-of-the-ordinary expressions. In those years, unlike our time, profanity was not allowed on the pages of literary works. According to Chagall, Bakst handed him one hundred rubles and advised him to use them to greater advantage in Russia. He had supported Chagall financially before.

Portrait of the writer Dmitry Fedorovich Filosofov, 1897

Bakst did a lot of portrait painting and willingly. His brushes include portraits of famous figures of literature and art: Levitan, Diaghilev, Rozanov, Zinaida Gippius, Isadora Duncan, Jean Cocteau, Konstantin Somov, Andrei Bely. Andrei Bely recalled: “The red-haired, ruddy, clever Bakst refused to write me simply, he needed me to be animated to the point of ecstasy! To do this, he brought his friend from the editorial office of the World of Art magazine, who ate ten dogs in terms of the ability to revive and tell clever stories and anecdotes, then the predatory tiger Bakst, his eyes flashing, sneaked up on me, clutching my brush.” Art historians consider Bakst one of the most prominent Russian portrait painters of the early twentieth century.

Portrait of Princess Olga Konstantinovna Orlova, 1909

Leon Bakst was not only a wonderful portrait painter. He proved himself to be an outstanding landscape painter. His graphic works, as contemporaries noted, were “strikingly decorative, full of special mysterious poetry and very “bookish.” Despite the variety of manifestations of artistic talent and the associated opportunities, Bakst did not have any special income. Constantly in need of money, Bakst collaborated with satirical magazines, worked on book graphics, designed the interiors of various exhibitions, and taught drawing to children of wealthy parents.

Portrait of L.P. Gritsenko (This is Bakst’s wife and daughter of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov) 1903

In 1903, in St. Petersburg, Bakst was asked to take part in the design of the ballet “The Fairy of Puppets”. The set and costume designs created by Bakst were received enthusiastically. “From the first steps,” Alexander Benois later wrote, “Bakst took a truly dominant position and since then has remained unique and unsurpassed.”

Portrait of Madame T., 1918

In Paris, Bakst joined the ballet group of the organizer of the Russian Seasons in Paris, Sergei Diaghilev. Sergei Pavlovich brought several ballets to Paris. These ballets, which served as the basis for the Russian Seasons, shocked the jaded French and aroused in them a storm of incomparable delight. Diaghilev's Russian Seasons owed its triumph, first of all, to Bakst's exceptionally beautiful productions. A special, “Bakst” style, with its wonderful, almost mysterious, amazing interweaving of the magic of ornament and combination of colors.

Portrait of Sergei Diaghilev with his nanny, 1906

The theatrical costumes created by Bakst, which were written about a lot in various art-related publications, thanks to rhythmically repeating color patterns, emphasized the dynamics of the dance and the actor’s movements. The pinnacle of Bakst's creativity was the scenery for Diaghilev's ballets: "Cleopatra" 1909, "Scheherazade" 1910, "Carnival" 1910, "Narcissus" 1911, "Daphnis and Chloe" 1912. These productions, as critics wrote, literally “drove Paris crazy.” And they laid the foundation for the artist’s world fame.

Portrait of a girl in a Russian kokoshnik, 1911

The Russian artist, art critic and memoirist Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, who knew Bakst since the days of joint teaching at the Zvantseva school of painting and was thoroughly familiar with his work, wrote: “He was recognized and “crowned” by the refined and capricious Paris itself, and what is surprising, despite the kaleidoscopic the change of idols, the variability of Parisian hobbies, despite all the “shifts” caused by the war, new phenomena in the field of art, the noise of futurism - Bakst still remained one of the unchangeable legislators of “taste.” Paris had already forgotten that Bakst was a foreigner, that he has his “roots” in St. Petersburg, that he is an artist of the “World of Art.” Leon Bakst - began to sound like the most Parisian of Parisian names.”

Lady with Oranges (Dinner), 1902

In 1918, Leon Bakst left Diaghilev's group. His departure is attributed to a number of reasons. This is a world war. The French had no time for "Russian Seasons". In addition, Bakst found himself cut off from Diaghilev’s troupe. The troupe remained in Paris, and Bakst was in Switzerland at that time. Bakst’s departure from the troupe, and this is perhaps the most important thing, was prompted by aesthetic differences with Diaghilev and growing contradictions. Diaghilev was a dictator. Long before the “Paris Seasons,” while working on a portrait of Diaghilev, Bakst complained that Diaghilev absolutely did not know how to pose, that he watched literally every stroke, and demanded that he look more beautiful in the portrait than in life. Apparently, while working on the sketches, Diaghilev tried to influence, strongly advised something, and made demands. Bakst didn't like this. And at some stage he refused to cooperate.

Portrait of Isaac Levitan, 1899

In Paris, Bakst was extremely popular. His style was adopted by the trendsetters of Parisian fashion. And they began to use it widely. Russian poet Maximilian Voloshin wrote: “Bakst managed to capture that elusive nerve of Paris that rules fashion, and its influence is now being felt everywhere in Paris - both in ladies’ dresses and at art exhibitions.” A book dedicated to Bakst’s work was published. This book, according to contemporaries, “represented the height of technical perfection.” The French government awarded Bakst the Order of the Legion of Honor.

Portrait of Isadora Duncan

Bakst's loud Parisian fame and world fame meant little for Russia. For the Russian authorities, Bakst, first of all, was a Jew, with all the ensuing consequences. Russian publicist, art and literary critic Dmitry Filosofov wrote: “After the first revolution, already “famous”, with a red ribbon in his buttonhole, he came from Paris to St. Petersburg, completely forgetting that he was a Jew from the Pale of Settlement. Imagine his surprise when a police officer came to him and said that he must immediately leave either for Berdichev or for Zhitomir.” The late vice-president of the Academy of Arts, Count Ivan Ivanovich Tolstoy (later the mayor) was indignant, the press made a fuss, and Bakst was left alone. Yes, of course, he was a Jew. But he felt like a son of Russia, firstly, and a human being, secondly. And most importantly, an artist.

Self-portrait, 1893

Bakst's popularity and his great fame had a tragic impact on his fate. Bakst was inundated with orders that he could not, and did not want to refuse. Overwork undermined his health. Leon Bakst died on December 27, 1924 in Paris, at the age of 58. While working on the ballet "Istar" for Ida Rubinstein's troupe, he suffered a "nervous attack." Bakst was hospitalized at the Riel-Malmaison hospital. They couldn't help him. According to another version, kidney disease brought Bakst to his grave. Another cause is called “pulmonary edema”. Perhaps we are talking about manifestations of the same disease. People who were not very knowledgeable in medicine were based not so much on the diagnosis as on its dominant manifestations. Bakst was buried in the Batignolles cemetery in Paris.

Portrait of Countess Keller, 1902

Based on materials from Valentin Domil’s article “The Great Bakst”

Rainfall, 1906

The great Russian artist, famous for his bright, lush, innovative theatrical sets and costumes for the Russian Seasons, Leon Bakst had such an influence on the theater, fashion, set design and much more that it is difficult to overestimate his contribution to both theatrical productions and design high fashion.

Many who grew up after him probably never heard of Bakst or the legacy he left.

In Russia, this name was generally banned for a long time, like everything associated with the first wave of emigration. Although he was not an emigrant in the literal sense of the word.

L.Bakst. Self-portrait. 1893

But it so happened that having arrived in February 1914 from Paris to St. Petersburg, already favored by the attention of the Parisian public, awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor of France, about whom the book was written,

Leon Bakst in Russia turned out to be just a Jew, who was assigned a strict place of residence - in the Pale of Settlement. As a Jew, he had the right, according to Russian laws, to live only somewhere in Belarus.

This was the law that guided the police officers who came to him with orders to leave the capital of their homeland. Leon Bakst never came to Russia again. And although a few months later he was accepted as a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts, this no longer influenced the artist’s decision to never come here again.

Leon Bakst was among those artists of the early 20th century who opposed the realism of the 19th century, its templates, pedantry, and lack of flight of thought, although the young artist began in the spirit of the realism of the Wanderers. But this was only the beginning of the journey. At the peak of his career, Leon Bakst emerged as a bold innovator and theatrical reformer.

He came to the theater on the wave of the choreographic revolution of Mikhail Fokine, for whom the meaning, emotions, theme, and not the technique of dance performance were important. Leon Bakst quickly grasped what the choreographer wanted from him. For each new performance with a new theme, he made his own costumes and his own decorations, unlike others from other performances.

L.Bakst. Set design for the ballet "Scheherazade". 1910

The oriental smell and riot of colors of “Scheherazade” and “Cleopatra” are replaced by the antique flavor of Ancient Greece in “Narcissus”, “Daphnis and Chloe”, “Afternoon of a Faun” and “Helen in Sparta”; Russian style "Firebird" - Biedermeier style in "Carnival" and "Vision of the Rose".

The wild, exotic, barbaric colors of the Russian Ballet blew up the sleeping Paris, stunning the viewer who came to see not so much the ballet as the costumes and scenery. It was literally a pilgrimage to a new, hitherto unprecedented theatrical world that opened up to the gaze of a jaded Parisian.

Leon Bakst once said: “I say “Goodbye” to old scenery, torn from the performance, to costumes created by old dressmakers; everything that turns a theatrical production into a collection of small impressions without that unique simplicity emanating from a true work of art."

The new costume design burst from the stage into the interior spaces of rich houses and turned into a fashionable style with Scheherazade's bloomers and bright colors. The subtle eroticism that the “Russian Seasons” brought with them was received with delight, women imitated the style of the unrivaled Ida Rubinstein, and the capital’s fashion salons offered outfits a la “Ida.”

L.Bakst. Costume design for the ballet "Narcissus" - The Bacchae, 1911

Bakst created not just costumes and scenery, he built them according to special laws of rhythm and visual perception, subtly controlling color, lines, and decorations. He used variations and shades of colors in such a way that they captivated the viewer with their mystery and magic. It was impossible to take my eyes off them.

The same color, but with different shades, conveyed either chastity or sensuality; sometimes despair, sometimes pride; now royalty, now sacrifice; sometimes despair, sometimes frankness. And it was always emotionally rich and sensually frank.

Bakst could express the same despair in different shades of color. Less strong - in shades of green, stronger - in shades of blue. By changing the intensity and color saturation, he controlled the impression, finding the color note that corresponded to the concept and theme of the performance.

The artist built the stage image of the performance in such a way that it became a second – color – reality, existing in parallel with the textual and choreographic one. Changing the mood of a particular scene was achieved by introducing an additional color scheme.

L.Bakst. Set design for the ballet "The Afternoon of a Faun", 1911

She could destroy serenity with one movement of a bright petticoat, just as the great actress from Somerset Maugham's "Theater" with just one bright spot of color, without a single word, transformed the performance, at the same time destroying her rival.

So in “Daphnis and Chloe”, into a calm and peaceful scene with shepherds and shepherdesses, peacefully located in the fresh greenery of the trees, dressed in clothes of soft, yellow-brown colors with decor stylized as an orderly antique ornament, the contrasting world of robbers suddenly bursts in.

Contrasting, both in color and in clothing, weighted with fabric and its abundance. Even without hearing the words or seeing the dance, it becomes visually clear what is happening on stage: the pastoral world of harmony and freshness, stability and order is suddenly destroyed by the invasion of a world painted in purple and dark blue colors, personifying violence, cruelty and barbarism.

It couldn't help but fascinate. Under the hand of Leon Bakst, those book illustrations of fairy tales with which young Leon Bakst decorated publications while earning his living in distant St. Petersburg suddenly came to life. They were also reminiscent of the book illustrations of Alexander Benois, with whom they founded the World of Art magazine, where he headed the editorial art department.

L.Bakst. Set design for the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty", 1921

In 1909, Leon Bakst finally settled in Paris and collaborated with Sergei Diaghilev until tensions in relations escalated into open conflict. They separated in 1918, although they got back together briefly in 1922.

Bakst had a lot of fans and, accordingly, orders. He worked tirelessly, rarely refusing anyone. Actually, he died from overwork. While working on scenery for Ida Rubinstein's ballet troupe, he suffered a nervous attack, which resulted in pulmonary edema.

Leon Bakst died on December twenty-seventh, 1924, exactly ninety years ago. On May 10, 2016, it will be 150 years since the birth of the great Russian artist Leon Bakst. And a boy was born in the provincial town of Grodno, in Belarus, and his name then was not Leon Bakst, but Leib-Chaim Rosenberg.

L.Bakst Firebird

Leon Bakst (Leib-Chaim) was born in 1866 in the small town of Grodno in the family of either a rabbi or a small businessman, Samuel Baruch-Chaimovich Rosenberg. The family was not rich, but had a wealthy relative - grandfather Leon Bakst, who lived in St. Petersburg.

The rich grandfather decided to help his poor relatives and soon they moved to St. Petersburg. Grandfather was a very good tailor, had good orders from wealthy clients, and arranged his house according to the model of Parisian salons with rich figurines, vases, furniture, songbirds and expensive paintings.

Leib-Chaim grew up as a very nervous boy, with a tendency to hysterics. He started reading very early and read everything. He especially liked looking at beautiful pictures in books and magazines. Leon began to cut them out and stage various scenes in front of his sisters, inventing different stories for them.

Books, the opera, which the boy attended with his parents, his grandfather’s house with an elegant interior, paintings and overseas birds awakened the child’s imagination. The boy did not like school, even though it was one of the best: it distracted him from his fantasies, the magic of imagination and drawing, to which Leib-Chaim became addicted.

His parents were not enthusiastic about his hobbies, especially since the Jewish faith prohibited any depiction of creatures and humans. But attempts to dissuade the boy from drawing ended in tears and hysterics. In the end, it was decided to seek the help of specialists who would assess the boy’s abilities.

The grandfather managed to show his grandson’s drawings to the famous sculptor Mark Antokolsky, who highly appreciated the boy’s talent and advised him to send him to study painting. This ended the disputes and at the age of seventeen Leib-Chaim became a volunteer student at the Imperial Academy of Arts.

But the teachers of the Academy, distinguished and wise, did not welcome innovative deviations from the canons of realism, cultivating established techniques and templates. Four years later, having had enough of the “hardened antiquity,” the young man left the Academy, which completely drove his father crazy. From now on, the wayward son was denied any help, including financial.

I had to learn to earn my own living, fortunately the Academy did teach me something. The young artist began illustrating books, magazines, accepting orders for portraits and designing theatrical productions. But since then, financial problems have haunted the artist constantly. He never had enough money.

L.Bakst. Alexander Benois

The young artist decided to continue his studies on his own, taking painting lessons from Antokolsky, Serov and the famous aqualist Albert Nikolaevich Benois, through whom he met the artist’s younger brother, Alexander Benois. At first, a casual acquaintance turned into business cooperation in the World of Art magazine and a long, strong friendship.

At twenty-three, Leib-Haim was invited to participate in an exhibition of young artists. Naturally, given Russian reality, the question of a name arose. It was decided to take a pseudonym. So Leib became Leon, Rosenberg became Bakst, after the shortened surname of Leon’s grandmother (Baxter), and Leib-Chaim Samoilovich Rosenberg became Leon Nikolaevich Bakst, a famous artist.

After the exhibition, the grandfather decided to sponsor his grandson’s trip abroad, sending him to study in Paris, the center of fashion and everything new in art. Leon Bakst studies at the famous Julian Academy, absorbing everything new. He will live in Paris for six years, but from time to time he visits his native land - Russia.

On one of these visits from Paris to St. Petersburg, a fateful meeting of the famous trinity took place: Alexander Benois, Sergei Diaghilev and Leon Bakst, who were included in the World of Art circle. Soon they become co-founders of the World of Art magazine.

L.Bakst. Sergei Diaghilev with his old nanny

The magazine was dedicated to the promotion of new Russian art in the field of painting, literature and philosophy. Those who would later be called classics of Russian modernism posted their works here: Repin, Somov, the Vasnetsov brothers, the Polenov brother and sister, Serov, Nesterov, Levitan, Korovin, Bakst, Lanceray.

Benois, Kandinsky, Diaghilev, and Grabar also published their art criticism articles here. The magazine also published religious and philosophical articles by Rozanov, Merezhkovsky, Shestov, Gippius, Balmont, Lurie. The magazine became a symbol of everything new in Russian art.

The heart and engine of the magazine was Sergei Diaghilev, the head of the art department was Leon Bakst. It is to Bakst that the magazine owes the appearance of new names, the best paintings of our time and new trends in art on its pages. Everything that was best and progressive found a place in the magazine.

Participation in the “World of Art” brought Leon Bakst fame and glory: he gained fans and customers, he became a regular participant in exhibitions, both in Russia and abroad, and he made a career as a book illustrator.

He is invited as a painting teacher to the children of the royal family, and Tsar Nicholas II himself places an order for him. In 1903, the artist met the widow of the artist Gritsenko, the daughter of the famous philanthropist and connoisseur of all things beautiful, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov.

L.Bakst. L.P. Gritsenko-Bakst

Leon Bakst paints her portrait, filled with love, purity, warmth and tenderness. The decision to marry the woman he loved met with resistance from her father, who was by no means an anti-Semite, but having a Jew as a son-in-law was too much. For the sake of marriage with the woman he loves, Bakst accepts Lutheranism.

Four years later, the first-born appears in the family, but six years later the union breaks up. They said that one of the reasons for the divorce was Bakst’s desire to protect his family from Judeophobia. But warm friendly relations remained between Lyubov Pavlovna and Leon Bakst. Until the end of his life, the artist helped his ex-wife and son financially. After the divorce, Leon Bakst again converted to the faith of his fathers and never betrayed it.

The World of Art magazine did not last long - only four years; in 1904 it closed and Bakst collaborated with other magazines, posting his paintings, portraits and illustrations there. But the line of promoting Russian art, which was the core of the World of Art, did not die.

B.M. Kustodiev. Group portrait of members of the World of Art association

It was continued by Sergei Diaghilev, who decided to present the best abroad. In 1906, an exhibition of Russian artists in Paris was held with great success, marking the beginning of the Russian Seasons in Paris. The following year, 1907, a season of Russian composers took place in Paris, in 1908 - an opera season with the participation of Chaliapin, and finally, in 1909, Sergei Diaghilev began organizing tours of the Russian ballet.

But this time his goal was not only to promote Russian ballet, but also to change it. He assembles a unique troupe of the best artists and choreographers of Russian ballet, the best artists - Bakst, Benois, Dobuzhinsky - and attracts the best composers.

The triumphant twenty-year march of Russian ballet across Europe and America began. For Leon Bakst, these years, especially the first ten years, before the break with Diaghilev, became the pinnacle of his creativity. He creates stunning costumes and sets: bright, innovative, elegant, different for different performances.

L.Bakst. Costume design for the eastern prince and his page for the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty"

Since 1909, he actually settled permanently in Paris, visiting Russia for a short time, and after 1914, when he was practically expelled from St. Petersburg for being a Jew, he completely refused to come here ever again. Moreover, by that time he was already considered a Parisian; his name, most appropriately, corresponded to the French one. Everyone forgot that his development as an artist took place in Russia and that he was also from there.

Leon Bakst was a gentle man, but he could not forgive much, just as he could not, for example, forgive the authoritarianism of Sergei Diaghilev and the betrayal of the young Marc Chagall, who studied with the master, but always wanted to go to Paris. Dissatisfied with his desire to go abroad, Bakst gave the young Chagall one hundred rubles, advising him to spend them for the benefit of Russia. But the aspiring artist still did it his way.

At the end of his life, Leon Bakst said: “A great thing is art: it is a colossal mother, with gigantic nipples, who does not stop feeding you with divine milk, if only you have the strength to stay on tiptoe to cling to your breasts.” He succeeded. Leon Bakst was buried in France at the Batillion cemetery.

Leon Bakst's grave at the Batillion cemetery