Russian female dancer costume for "La Fée des Poupées"

Drawing of a Russian female dancer costume for 'La Fée des Poupées' created with graphite on tracing paper by Léon Bakst in 1903, consisting of a short dress with a low, straight neckline, long, puffy sleeves, and wide skir, long hair, forming a braid to one side, and a thin cane, held on one hand. The ballet, part of the repertoire of the Russian Imperial Theaters under the direction of Teliakovsky, featured a choreography by Nikolai and Serge Legat, and designs by Bakst. Although the ballet was not a great success, it became one of Bakst's early masterpieces: the elegance and humor with which he responded to the toyshop theme, adapting the setting from 1870s Vienna to contemporary St. Petersburg, earned him a commission for a portrait of Madame Gritzenko and twelve colored portraits with his illustrations. This early success also foreshadowed the greater successes that were to come his way with his sensuous and colorful designs for the Ballets Russes in Paris during the teens.