Costume Design for a Courtier, likely for the Ballet 'La Belle au Bois Dormant' (Sleeping Beauty), premiered at the Alhambra Theatre in London, 1921

Drawing with a costume design for a courtier, likely for the ballet 'La Belle au Bois Dormant' (Sleeping Princess), premiered at the Alhambra Theater in London in 1921. The design was created by Léon Bakst in the later part of his career, while seriously ill, only a few years before his death. This was the last of his collaborations with Serge Diaghilev, his longtime partner in the Ballets Russes, who approached him in 1920 to work with him in the production. The Sleeping Princess, created by the famous choreographer Petipa and the director of the Imperial Ballet, Vsevolojsky, was the finest classical ballet in the repertoir of the Ballets Russes, presented with the grandiose stage and costume designs by Bakst, using his already traditional mix of bold colors and orientalist inspirations.



This drawing presents a standing male figure with a white redingote with thin, horizontal stripes of gold color on the chest and the border of the skirt, blue breeches with white, ruffled borders, white tights, and blue high-heeled boots. His hair, long, loose, and with light waves, is framed by a wide-brimmed, white hat, flanked with a large, scrolling feather. His face is framed by a bow-shaped, wide cravat of white color, which covers the upper part of the jacket. His hands are covered with white gloves, and the cuffs of the jacket are decorated with the same thin stripes of gold color that decorate its chest and skirt.