Léon Bakst 1866-1924
La Péri, 1911
lithograph on paper
55 x 38 cm
43/50
signed (lower right): Bakst 1911
1987-26
Photo: Bridgeman images
Bakst’s 'La Péri' was commissioned by Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes in 1911. Paul Dukas composed the ballet, insisting that his mistress Natacha Trouhanova be its main character but the...
Bakst’s 'La Péri' was commissioned by Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes in 1911. Paul Dukas composed the ballet, insisting that his mistress Natacha Trouhanova be its main character but the production was cancelled because Diaghilev did not consider Trouhanova skilled enough to partner Nijinsky. Trouhanova's name appears in the top right corner of the work, but it has been said that there was little resemblance between Bakst's delicate Persian elf and Trouhanova's more robust figure. Bakst’s considered use of line evokes a sense of rhythmic movement enhanced by the delightful exoticism of his decorative costume.
Provenance
presented by Fred Davidson 1948Exhibitions
1956 Fortieth Anniversary Exhibition: Selected Works by Artists Exhibited over the Past Forty Years, Ben Uri Art Gallery
1960 Selections from the Permanent Collection, Ben Uri Art Gallery
1989 Prints and Drawings from the Permanent Collection, Ben Uri Art Gallery
2012 Chaim Soutine and his Contemporaries - from Russia to Paris and School of London works from the Ben Uri Collection, Ben Uri Gallery
2013 Chagall, Soutine and the School of Paris: touring exhibition, Manchester Jewish Museum
2018 Exodus: masterworks from the Ben Uri Collection, Bushey Museum
2023 Joy, Ben Uri Gallery
Literature
Rachel Dickson and Sarah MacDougall, eds., Ben Uri: 100 Years in London - Art, Identity, Migration (London: Ben Uri Gallery, 2015), p. 70 (illus.);Sarah MacDougall ed., Soutine and his Contemporaries - from Russia to Paris (London: Ben Uri Gallery, 2012) p. 15;
Walter Schwab and Julia Weiner, eds., Jewish Artists: the Ben Uri Collection - Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture (London: Ben Uri Art Society in association with Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd, 1994), p. 23.
