Leon Bakst

Léon Bakst was a Russian painter and scene- and costume designer. After graduating from gymnasium, he studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts as a non-credit student, because he had failed the entry, working part-time as a book illustrator, though, he would eventually be admitted into this institution in 1883. From 1893 to 1897 he lived in Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian while still visiting Saint Petersburg often. After the mid-1890s he became a member of the circle of writers and artists formed by Sergei Diaghilev and Alexandre Benois. As a member of the Sergei Diaghilev circle and the Ballets Russes, he designed exotic, richly coloured sets and costumes and revolutionized both theatrical design and contemporary fashion with his sensual and exotic visions. In 1922, Bakst broke off his relationship with Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. He died on the 27th of December 1924, in Paris.