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Historical Artist - Leon Bakst (1886 - 1924)
Although born in Russia, Leon Bakst spent most of his artistic career in Paris. In 1898, he
co-founded the World of Art group. He then went on to establish a reputation as a portraitist
until in 1902, when he migrated to stage design. He is best known for his work as a costume and
set designer for Diaghliev’s Ballets Russes.
Leon was born in Grodno (currently Belarus) in a middle-class Jewish family. After graduating
from gymnasium, he studied in St. Petersburg Academy of Arts as a noncredit student, working
part-time as a book illustrator.
On his first exhibition (1889) he took the name of Bakst based on his maternal grandmother's
family name Baxter. At the beginning of the 1890s he exhibited his works with Society of
watercolourists. During 1893 - 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, which later
became the Mir Iskusstva art movement.
In 1899, he co-founded with Sergei Diaghilev the influential periodical World of Art. His
graphics for the World of Art magazine
Contemporary Russian Artists
Art Galleries in Russia
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