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The Russian Ballet in Western Europe 1909–1920

1921
Not on view
Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes was celebrated thus, that it became part of history while it was still very much alive. In 1920, the New York gallery Knoedler & Co. organized exhibitions of the designs of Leon Bakst, and a first retrospective of the Russian Ballet in Western Europe was published in London in 1921. Celebrated in particular was the company’s ability to transport its audiences to a world of fantasy and wonderment. This experience was greatly welcomed at a time when Europe and the United States were recovering from the devastation of World War I (1914-18), as captured in this quote from this publication: ‘We have our despair, our sadness, our violated love and this thing, most dread of all – the passing of the days between our hands (…). But in the Spring, the Russian Ballets and Nijinski return. And all is forgotten.’

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Russian Ballet in Western Europe 1909–1920
  • Author: Walter Archibald Propert (British, active 1920s)
  • Publisher: John Lane , New York
  • Author: Essay on Music by Eugene Goossens (British, 1893–1962)
  • Publisher: John Lane, The Bodley Head (British, 1854–1925)
  • Designer: Portrait of S. Diaghelev after Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov (Russian, St. Petersburg 1865–1911 Moscow)
  • Designer: Portrait of V. Nijinsky after Jacques-Emile Blanche (French, Paris 1861–1942)
  • Designer: Portrait of L. Massine after Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
  • Designer: Portrait of T. Karsavina after Glyn Warren Philpot (British, 1884–1937)
  • Designer: Portrait of I. Stravinsky after Jacques-Emile Blanche (French, Paris 1861–1942)
  • Designer: Léon Bakst (Russian (born present day Belarus), Hrodna (Grodno) 1866–1924 Paris) (8 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Alexander Benois (Russian, St. Petersburg 1870–1960 Paris) (4 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: André Derain (French, Chatou 1880–1954 Garches) (2 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Ivan Fedorovsky (Russian, active early 20th century) (4 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Aleksandr Yakovlevich Golovin (Russian, Moscow 1863–1930 Detskoye Selo) (2 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Natalia Goncharova (French (born Russia), Nagaevo 1881–1962 Paris) (9 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Mikhail Larionov (Russian, 1881–1964) (5 works; scenes, costume, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Henri Matisse (French, Le Cateau-Cambrésis 1869–1954 Nice) (2 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France) (9 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Nicholas Roerich (Russian, St. Petersburg 1874–1947 Nagar, India) (2 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov (Russian, St. Petersburg 1865–1911 Moscow) (1 work; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: José Maria Sert Y Badia (Spanish, 1874/76–1945) (7 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Sergej Jur'evic Sondeikine (Russian, ca. 1888–1946) (2 works; scenes, costumes, curtains for ballet)
  • Designer: Natalia Goncharova (French (born Russia), Nagaevo 1881–1962 Paris) (title page, vignettes)
  • Published in: London
  • Date: 1921
  • Medium: Illustrations: photomechanical reproductions and color lithographs
  • Dimensions: 13 1/16 x 10 1/4 x 1 7/8 in. (33.1 x 26 x 4.8 cm)
  • Classification: Books
  • Credit Line: Gift of Estate of Jane Erdmann Whitney, 1986
  • Object Number: 1986.1145.35
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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