Léon Bakst

The artist
Private collection, New York
Sotheby's New York, Dance, Theater and Opera, 15 December 1977, lot 19
Acquired at the above sale by the present owners

Revived under the title The Sleeping Princess at the London Alhambra Theatre in 1921, this production of La Belle au bois dormant was Bakst’s last collaboration with Sergei Diaghilev. The reviews were abundant with praise, with the Daily Mail writing, ‘Bakst… sets out to ravish, not to shock the eye. His Versailles of last night would have made Louis XIV himself look dim’ (R.Capell, ‘“The Sleeping Princess.” Bakst splendours at Russian Ballet. Olga Spessiva’, Daily Mail, 3 November 1921). For the London production Lydia Lopokova was cast as the Lilac Fairy.