"Leon Bakst/Léon Bakst. To 150-летию birthday"
ARTinvestment.RU   29 апреля 2016

About two hundred paintings, drawings, objects and photos by Leon Bakst will show in the Pushkin Museum Pushkin in the beginning of June

GMII imeni A. S. Pushkina
8 Jun – 4 Sep 2016
Moscow, Volkhonka, 12

This summer at the State Museum of fine arts Pushkin will be held a Grand exhibition "Lev Bakst/Léon Bakst. To 150-летию birthday".

One of the most original and brilliant artists of the early XX century, Lev Samoilovich Bakst (Nast. last name Rosenberg, 1866-1924) is known primarily for its stunning designs for Diaghilev's "Russian seasons" in Paris and London. His bright, dynamic and provocative sets and costumes ensured the success of such legendary productions as "Cleopatra," "Scheherazade", "the Blue God" and "the Sleeping Princess", and influenced a General idea of the stage design. Considering the ballet, Opera and drama as a synthetic art of design, in which color, sound, word and movement are equal partners, collaborating with such brilliant people as Sergei Diaghilev, Vaslav Nijinsky and Igor Stravinsky, Bakst has radically changed the body position of the actor on the stage, releasing its kinetic energy and creating an organic relationship between the proscenium and the audience.

Bakst was not only a theatre artist, but also a famous painter (his painting "Dinner" was a scandalous success in 1902, while "Ancient Horror" 1908 caused the alarming specter of the Apocalypse), a portrait (his image of Sergei Diaghilev, Andrei Bely, and Zinaida Gippius — precious evidence of the Silver age), the Illustrator of wonderful books interior designer and Creator of high fashion in 1910-х, standing close to Wurth, Chanel and Poiret. Bakst also designed hairstyles (wigs, jewelry, handbags and other fashion accessories, writing articles about modern design, about dance and about the woman who lectured in Russia, Europe and America on fashion and contemporary art, wrote full details intriguing autobiographical novel, was fond of photography and at the end of life showed great interest in the movie. In love with the old and in Oriental art, Bakst has combined the extravagance of ar-нуво with a sense of proportion and common sense, a rare mix that has brought him resounding success in Russia, Europe and America.

citizen of the world, Bakst was at home in Saint-Петербурге, in Paris, in Venice, in London and new-Йорке, his art — organic part of Russian and European decorative revival of the early twentieth century — is so significant that even today the power and the ingenuity of its stage design still influence present-day artistic process. Closely collaborating with famous artists, musicians, dancers and writers of the time such as Alexander Benois, Claude Debussy, IDA Rubinstein, Isadora Duncan and Gabrielle D@arohanui, Bakst was one of the brightest — and the strongest — stars in the Russian sky the end of the XIX — early twentieth century.

having Collected together about two hundred paintings, drawings, objects and photos by Leon Bakst at the exhibition "léon Bakst. To 150-летию from the date of birth of the artist", the Pushkin Museum pays tribute to the rich and diverse creativity of this amazing man, one of the most influential artists of his time and the chief cultural Ambassador of the Russian Silver age. The works presented at the exhibition cover a number of the most important themes for the artist. This book graphics, and antique and Oriental motifs, portraits, landscapes, fashion, theatrical costumes. Among the exhibits one should mention such works as "Beauties. Costume design for the ballet "Narcisse"" (circa 1911, Spmcil), "Bacchante. Costume design for the ballet "Narcisse" (1911, Centre Pompidou), "the Temple dancer. Costume design for the ballet "Blue God"" (1912, Centre Pompidou), "costume design for Vaslav Nijinsky as Faun for the ballet "Afternoon of the Faun"" (1912, private collection, Paris), Portrait of Sergei Diaghilev with his nanny" (1906, Russian Museum), "self-Portrait" (1893, Russian Museum), "costume design for IDA Rubinstein in the role of Cleopatra (the ballet "Cleopatra")" (1909, Spmcil, the gift of the International charitable Fund "Konstantinovsky", 2013. Collection of Nikita and Nina Lobanov-Ростовских), "the Young man accompanying Orpheus in the temple. The costume design. Act I" (1914, Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkin), "Ancient horror (Terror Antiquus)" (1905-1908, Russian Museum).

the exhibition includes works of Russian and Western collections, public and private, many of which are first shown in Russia. In addition, the well-known Russian fashion historian Alexander Vasilyev will provide for the exhibition a number of costumes from its collection. The exhibition is accompanied by scientific, illustrated catalog, which will be published around 400 works by Leon Bakst. This is the first full retrospective exhibition of L. S. Bakst in Russia.

the Curators of the exhibition: Natalia Borisovna Avtonomov, head. The Department of personal collections GMII im. Alexander Pushkin; John E. Boult, Director of the Institute of modern Russian culture at the University of southern California.

Source: arts-museum.ru