L’Art décoratif de Léon Bakst

Léon Bakst (1866-1924) was a Russian portraitist and designer who spent much of his career in Paris. This book reflects his extraordinary collaborative work with Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes as well as the dancers Ida Rubinstein and Vaslav Nijinsky. The costumes and set designs in the book demonstrate his modern yet exotic aesthetic as well as a consistently brilliant and detailed use of color.
The book itself is a remarkable example of collaboration: the preface was provided by Arsène Alexandre (the art critic of the French newspaper Figaro) and the summaries for each ballet were written by Jean Cocteau (the French poet, playwright and filmmaker).