Bakst

“Words of Magic”: The Literary Heritage of Léon Bakst[1]

John E. Bowlt, Anna Chernukhina, Olga Kovaleva, Elena Terkel

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EXCLUSIVE PUBLICATIONS
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#1 2008 (18)

Of the many artists of the Russian Silver Age Léon Bakst (Lev Samoilovich Rozenberg, 1866-1924) deserves the highest acclaim for his contribution to both studio painting and the decorative arts. Among Russian stage designers, he enjoyed - and continues to enjoy - the widest recognition for legendary productions such as Cléopatre, Schéhérazade, Le Dieu Bleu and The Sleeping Princess, in which he astounded audiences with munificence of colour, tactile form and exposure of the dynamic force of the human body.

“Words of Magic”: The Literary Heritage of Léon Bakst

Of the many artists of the Russian Silver Age Léon Bakst (Lev Samoilovich Rozenberg, 1866-1924) deserves the highest acclaim for his contribution to both studio painting and the decorative arts. Among Russian stage designers, he enjoyed - and continues to enjoy - the widest recognition for legendary productions such as Cléopatre, Schéhérazade, Le Dieu Bleu and The Sleeping Princess, in which he astounded audiences with munificence of colour, tactile form and exposure of the dynamic force of the human body.

LÉON BAKST. His Family and His Art

Elena Terkel

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#1 2008 (18)

Léon Bakst is the greatest theatre designer, a fine painter and a superb master of drawing, particularly of line drawing. This line - curved, tense, emotional and at the same time prodigiously harmonious - became a signature feature not only of Bakst’s art, but of the whole “Moderne” style as well, one that cannot be imagined without Bakst. What do we know about his life?

LÉON BAKST. His Family and His Art

Léon Bakst and the Writer: of the Russian Silver Age

Yelena Terkel

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Magazine issue: 
#2 2017 (55)

A prominent artist of the Silver Age of Russian culture, Léon (Lev Samoilovich) Bakst was also a notable figure in the literary community of his time. He was acquainted with, or a friend of many writers and poets whose portraits he painted and whose books he illustrated.

Léon Bakst and the Writer: of the Russian Silver Age

A prominent artist of the Silver Age of Russian culture, Léon (Lev Samoilovich) Bakst was also a notable figure in the literary community of his time. He was acquainted with, or a friend of many writers and poets whose portraits he painted and whose books he illustrated.

Sergei Diaghilev's "Ballets Russes" on the Tretyakov Gallery Stage

Yevgenia Ilyukhina, Irina Shumanova

Article: 
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Magazine issue: 
#3 2009 (24)

Sergei Diaghilev occupies a special place in the culture of the 20th century – many publications have analysed his personality and artistic projects. But who can state that the puzzle of Diaghilevʼs infinite creativity has been unriddled. For many, he is not so much a real person as a composite figure of the ideal impresario, in whom the talent of an organizer was married to an exceptional sensitivity and receptivity to any innovation in art and, of course, the faculty for finding like-minded individuals and financing for his projects.

Sergei Diaghilev's "Ballets Russes" on the Tretyakov Gallery Stage

SERGEI DIAGHILEV OCCUPIES A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE CULTURE OF THE 20TH CENTURY - MANY PUBLICATIONS HAVE ANALYSED HIS PERSONALITY AND ARTISTIC PROJECTS. BUT WHO CAN STATE THAT THE PUZZLE OF DIAGHILEV'S INFINITE CREATIVITY HAS BEEN UNRIDDLED? FOR MANY, HE IS NOT SO MUCH A REAL PERSON AS A COMPOSITE FIGURE OF THE IDEAL IMPRESARIO, IN WHOM THE TALENT OF AN ORGANIZER WAS MARRIED TO AN EXCEPTIONAL SENSITIVITY AND RECEPTIVITY TO ANY INNOVATION IN ART AND, OF COURSE, THE FACULTY FOR FINDING LIKE-MINDED INDIVIDUALS AND FINANCING FOR HIS PROJECTS.

Léon Bakst: “Dress up like a flower!”

Yelena Terkel

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#4 2009 (25)

Léon Bakst hoped that his art would bring more harmony and joy into life. Wishing to make mankind happy and day-dreaming about antiquity and the Orient, what did he really have to offer? Something of a dandy and naive like a child, the artist often made his friends smile. Yet he would succeed in making life shinier and brighter, in bringing beauty closer to everyday life. Bakst was the first Russian artist to win worldwide recognition as a designer.

Leon Bakst: “Dress up like a flower!”

Léon Bakst hoped that his art would bring more harmony and joy into life. Wishing to make mankind happy and day-dreaming about antiquity and the Orient, what did he really have to offer? Something of a dandy and naive like a child, the artist often made his friends smile. Yet he would succeed in making life shinier and brighter, in bringing beauty closer to everyday life. Bakst was the first Russian artist to win worldwide recognition as a designer.

America in Léon Bakst’s Life and Art

Yelena Terkel

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Special issue N2. USA–RUSSIA: ON THE CROSSROADS OF CULTURES

America in the eyes of the artists, actors and musicians of the Silver Age of Russian culture was an enigmatic and fabulously rich country - a country to go to on a tour or to earn money. Only a handful of such artists gradually came to view the New World as not just a source of income but also as a special cultural hub with distinct traditions and roots. One such was Léon Bakst, the Russian artist of international renown who spent the second half of his life in France.

America in Leon Bakst’s Life and Art

America in the eyes of the artists, actors and musicians of the Silver Age of Russian culture was an enigmatic and fabulously rich country - a country to go to on a tour or to earn money. Only a handful of such artists gradually came to view the New World as not just a source of income but also as a special cultural hub with distinct traditions and roots. One such was Léon Bakst, the Russian artist of international renown who spent the second half of his life in France.

Valentin Serov and Leon Bakst. Seeking an ideal

Yelena Terkel

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Magazine issue: 
#3 2015 (48)

Valentin Serov (1865-1911) appeared reserved, earnest, and sombre; Leon Bakst (1866-1924) was vibrant, unpredictable and a little funny - a dedicated dandy. What was it that brought together these two artists, so unlike one another? Why did their fondness for one another grow in the years after they met while publishing “Mir Iskusstva” (World of Art) magazine? The answer seems simple and complicated at the same time: deep down, they were looking for something indiscernibly similar. While their public personas were so different, both used them to protect their respective creative selves from the rude intrusions of outsiders. Both artists were successful and famous, each in his own unique way; both were chasing their dreams and looking for new paths and expressions, while remaining honest and true to themselves in their artistic pursuits.

Valentin Serov and Leon Bakst. Seeking an ideal

Valentin Serov (1865-1911) appeared reserved, earnest, and sombre; Leon Bakst (1866-1924) was vibrant, unpredictable and a little funny - a dedicated dandy. What was it that brought together these two artists, so unlike one another? Why did their fondness for one another grow in the years after they met while publishing “Mir Iskusstva” (World of Art) magazine? The answer seems simple and complicated at the same time: deep down, they were looking for something indiscernibly similar.

DRAWING TECHNIQUE: From Orest Kiprensky to Kazimir Malevich

Irina Shumanova, Yevgenia Ilyukhina

Article: 
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Magazine issue: 
#1 2011 (30)

Pencil drawing is one of the oldest art forms, the source of all visual arts, recording the inception of an idea and the stages of its further development. But drawing also has a life of its own as an independent art form with a distinctive language, specific rules and history. Pencils come in many different varieties - silver, lead, graphite, black chalk, wax, coloured pencils, lithographic pencils and other types - and the word also refers to a large number of similar media which can be categorized as the techniques of “dry drawing”, like charcoal, sanguine and sauce. There is an almost limitless variety of techniques involving the use of these materials, and they serve to show off a particular artist’s individuality, sense of form, innate talent and level of skills. A drawing in pencil, charcoal, sanguine or sauce is the best reflection of its creator’s temperament and character. From the vast variety of pencil and pencil-related techniques every epoch chooses those that suit it best. The age of classicism treasured the austere beauty of linear drawing, romanticism - the contrasts and the picturesque quality of strokes; for the “Peredvizhniki” (Wanderers) artists, pencils were “modest workers”, and the modernist movement re-invented the selfsufficiency of lines and the aesthetic value of the process of drawing as such.

DRAWING TECHNIQUE: From Orest Kiprensky to Kazimir Malevich

The Tretyakov Gallery thanks Ivan Kardashidi for support of the exhibition

Anna Antonova, Lydia Tornstensen and Yevgenia Plotnikova also contributed to the publication.

Pencil drawing is one of the oldest art forms, the source of all visual arts, recording the inception of an idea and the stages of its further development. But drawing also has a life of its own as an independent art form with a distinctive language, specific rules and history.

America in Leon Bakst’s Life and Art

Yelena Terkel

Article: 
EXCLUSIVE PUBLICATIONS
Magazine issue: 
#2 2011 (31)

America in the eyes of the artists, actors and musicians of the Silver Age of Russian culture was an enigmatic and fabulously rich country - a country to go to on a tour or to earn money. Only a handful of such artists gradually came to view the New World as not just a source of income but also as a special cultural hub with distinct traditions and roots. One such was Leon Bakst, the Russian artist of international renown who spent the second half of his life in France.

America in Leon Bakst’s Life and Art

America in the eyes of the artists, actors and musicians of the Silver Age of Russian culture was an enigmatic and fabulously rich country - a country to go to on a tour or to earn money. Only a handful of such artists gradually came to view the New World as not just a source of income but also as a special cultural hub with distinct traditions and roots. One such was Leon Bakst, the Russian artist of international renown who spent the second half of his life in France.

The Theatre in the Biography of Marc Chagall

Alexandra Shatskikh

Magazine issue: 
Special issue. Marc Chagall "BONJOUR, LA PATRIE!"

Abram Efros's brilliant essay on the great artist contains the following disappointingly unfair lines. "It can now be said that Chagall made us pay a high price for his Jewish form of stage imagery. The theatre is simply not in his blood."1 These words reflect the conflict that arose in 1921 in the Jewish Chamber Theatre between Marc Chagall, on the one hand, and director Alexei Granovsky and Efros himself, in charge of design, on the other. Today this distant conflict and Efros's assessment of it merely serve to illustrate how stupendous, how overwhelming was the Vitebsk master's work in the theatre. For the best part of a century Marc Chagall showed on many occasions that there was a rich vein of theatre in his blood.

The Theatre in the Biography of Marc Chagall

Abram Efros's brilliant essay on the great artist contains the following disappointingly unfair lines. "It can now be said that Chagall made us pay a high price for his Jewish form of stage imagery. The theatre is simply not in his blood."1 These words reflect the conflict that arose in 1921 in the Jewish Chamber Theatre between Marc Chagall, on the one hand, and director Alexei Granovsky and Efros himself, in charge of design, on the other.

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