Bakst. The Story of Leon Bakst's Life
Berlin: Alexander Kogan Publishing Company "Russian Art" 1922. Limited edition. Hardcover. 42/600, hand-numbered. Large Folio. 240pp., 68 [1] plates. Original full vellum with brown lettering on cover and spine; latter with tooling and raised bands. Heavy ochre, textured endpapers. Lithographic half-titles; title page printed in brown and black. Frontispiece portrait of Bakst by Modigliani, a color-offset reproduction with tissue guard. Lithographic head- and endpieces, accentuated initials in brown and black. Three hundred copies each printed for sale in the USA and Great Britain.
Bakst revolutionized theatrical design and costumes around the turn and in the early twentieth century during his time in the Sergei Diaghilev circle. Diaghilev is credited with the conception of the Ballet Russes, considered to be one of, if not the most influential ballet company of the 20th Century. Works by composers such as Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel were commissioned as well as art by Kandinsky, Picasso and Matisse, among others. Bakst was one of the costume designers, next to Ivan Bilibin and Coco Chanel.
The publication is illustrated with sixty-eight full-page plates, depicting predominantly theater set designs, costumes and portraits, fifty-two of them in color, tissue-guarded with printed captions and publisher's logo. Eighteen of the full-page plates rendered lithographically. These reproductions of Bakst's work were originally rendered in variant techniques ranging from gouache to crayon, chalk and pencil. In addition the title contains numerous b/w and color-offset reproductions of Bakst motifs pasted into the text.
"In the book of fame, the name of Leon Bakst is writ large. Many a time and oft, illustrious critics have heralded his praise. In speaking today of the contribution made by Bakst, there is really nothing that one can add or improve upon. The inventory of his achievements has been completed; the unexampled influence which he never ceased to exercise has bee rightly evaluated. Nevertheless, there remains a task which must not be neglected. Paris, to be sure, enthusiastically watched the development of his art; but for us, Russians, has been reserved the most thrilling experience if all – that of chronicling the unfolding of his genius." (Levinson)
Front cover of binding with light wear along edges, boards with some minor chips. Small dealer sticker on inside front cover. Lightly starting at page 17. Light, sporadic foxing in block, accentuated at front and back endpapers, in margins and on tissue guards, not affecting images. Plates XII, XVI, XXII with minor foxing in margins of plate, not affecting images. Plate with "Drawing of colour for the review "Apollo" with light faxing in plate. Very good+ condition. Item #55316
Leon Bakst (1866-1924) was a Russian-Jewish painter, costume and set designer. Bakst studied art at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and was a member of the Sergei Diaghilev circle. In 1893 he moved to Paris for four years, studying at the Academy Julian. He founded the magazine 'Mir Iskusstva (World of Art)' with his friends Alexander Benois, Sergei Diaghilev and Valentin Serov. Bakst is best known for his work in set and costume design for the Ballet Russes.
Price: $3,250.00