Costume design for an attendant

Details

Léon Bakst (1866-1924)
Costume design for an attendant
with studio stamp 'Bakst' (lower centre)
pencil and gouache, heightened with silver and gold, on paper
11 3/8 x 3½ in. (29 x 9 cm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale, Parke-Bennet Galleries Inc., New York, 6 May 1970, lot 16.
Parmenia Migel Ekstrom, New York in 1976.
Julian Barran Ltd., London.

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, Stravinsky-Diaghilev, New York, 1973, illustrated, no. 5.
Exhibition catalogue, Diaghilev-Cunningham, New York, 1974, listed no. 13.
Exhibition catalogue, Léon Bakst: The Fine Art Society Centenary Exhibition, 1976, illustrated p. 29, listed p. 28, pl. 36 as Costume design for a pilgrim.
Exhibition catalogue, Silver Age: Russian Art in Vienna Around 1900, Vienna, 2014, illustrated p. 206, pl. 85.

Exhibited

New York, Cordier and Ekstrom Gallery, Stravinsky-Diaghilev, May-June 1973, no. 5.
New York, Emily Lowe Gallery, Diaghilev-Cunningham, April-May 1974, no. 13.
London and Edinburgh, The Fine Art Society, Léon Bakst: The Fine Art Society Centenary Exhibition, August-October 1976, no. 36.
London, Julian Barran Ltd., Designs for the Russian Ballet, 1995.
Vienna, The Belvedere, Silver Age: Russian Art in Vienna Around 1900, 27 June-28 September 2014.

Brought to you by

Aleksandra Babenko

ababenko@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2489

Lot Essay

While the present work has historically been catalogued as a design for ‘Le Dieu Bleu’, its colour scheme suggests it is more likely a creation for ‘Le Martre de Saint Sebastien’ or ‘Helene de Sparte’ in both of which Ida Rubinstein performed the lead role.

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