Schouvaloff, Alexander Leon Bakst : The Theater Art , London: Philip Wilson for Sotheby's, 1991.

Illustrated by Colour & b/w Illustrations / Photographs. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 4to 0856673919 Dust jacket compleete, unclipped. Original cloth covered boards with bright gilt titling. Illustrated end papers. No ownership inscription. Colour & b/w Illustrations / Photographs. 272 pages clean and tight. Leon Bakst (1866-1924) is best known as the leading stage designer for the Ballets Russes and his collaboration with Serge Diaghilev. His extraordinarily daring blaze of startling colours in the legendary set and costumes of the ballet Scheherazade in 1910 created a sensation and started a fashion imitated by dressmakers and interior designers. 'Bakstian' became an adjective. Bakst's greatest contribution to the art of the theatre and his most permanent influence has been to establish the importance of the role of the designer. He designed his first work for the theatre in 1901 and during the next twenty-three years he revolutionized theatre design, stressing the unique effect of the combination of raw colour and movement. As the New York Times stated in its obituary 'Never before has the eye been so startlingly challenged', Bakst 'set all the world aglow with a flame that was of the senses wholly'. Apart from the Ballets Russes, Bakst also designed important productions for Anna Pavlova's tours in Europe and America including The Sleeping Beauty in 1916 and all the extravagant spectaculars for the exotic Ida Rubinstein at the Opera in Paris. Divided into three main parts, this book opens with a brief description of Bakst's elusive character quoting revealing autobiographical notes. In the second part of the book, Alexander Schouvaloff draws upon extensive research to plot chronologically the development of Bakst's unique style of design quoting hitherto unpublished letters, statements and interviews. Here, for the first time, Bakst's innovative sets and costumes are described and analysed in detail as are the ideas behind his work for the stage. Bakst unified every aspect of the production into a complete stage picture. Schouvaloff has quoted critics worldwide who describe first-hand experience of the overwhelming effect of Bakst's colourful stage creations. The third part provides, for the first time, a comprehensive list of all of Bakst's productions and exhibitions and the fullest bibliography to date. Almost every production is illustrated in colour and black and white with Bakst's inimitably sensuous drawings, as well as frequent comparative illustrations of the performers in their sets and costumes. (Book ref. 127692)  £44.00

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