Artist Bakst Lev Samoilovich: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Bakst Lev is a Belarusian by origin, Russian by spirit, who lived for many years in France, known in history as an outstanding Russian artist, theater graphic artist, set designer. His work anticipates many trends of the 20th century in art, it combines the features of impressionism, modernism and symbolism. Bakst is one of the most stylish and sophisticated Russian artists of the turn of the century, who had a powerful influence not only on domestic, but also on world culture.

Family and childhood

Bakst Lev Samoylovich was born in 1866 into an Orthodox Jewish family in the Belarusian city of Grodno. The family was large, with patriarchal foundations. His father was a Talmudic scholar, he was also engaged in trade, his income was low, so his son often visited his grandfather in St. Petersburg. He was rich enough, he was a fashionable tailor, he loved luxury and social life, he led a Parisian lifestyle, which his grandson really liked. He was a great theatricalinstilled this passion in Leo. It is in honor of his grandfather that the young man takes the surname Bakst, shortening it a little, instead of his real one - Rosenberg, which seemed to him not at all poetic. Even as a child, the future artist liked to play scenes of his own composition in front of his sisters, the boy had a violent fantasy and obvious inclinations for drawing.

Vocation and study

At the age of 12 he won the competition for the best portrait of A. Zhukovsky in the gymnasium. Bakst Lev dreamed of studying painting, but his father did not recognize such a frivolous occupation in life as drawing, and for a long time the boy had to indulge in his favorite pastime secretly, at night. As a last argument, my father decided to ask the sculptor Mark Antokolsky for advice; drawings of the future painter were sent to him in Paris. And when the answer was received that the author's talent was clearly visible in the works, the father gave up.

In 1883, the young man entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts as a volunteer. Lev Bakst, whose biography is now forever connected with art, studied with such teachers as Chistyakov, Asknaziya, Veniga, showed good results for four years. However, having lost the competition of the academy for a silver medal, the young man leaves the educational institution. His work was crossed out of the list of participants due to the fact that all the characters in the biblical painting had Jewish features. This artist could not bear. The academic drawing skills acquired at the academy will be useful to him in the future.

Finding a Path in Art

Leaving his studies, Bakst Lev is forced to look for work, his father died, and he had to help the family, which was mainly supported by his grandfather. He was helped by the fact that even during his studies he made connections at a publishing house, where he began to draw up inexpensive books. This work did not give him pleasure, but it brought money. In 1890, he became close to the Benois brothers, they introduced Bakst to the circle of progressive creative youth. Under their influence, the artist is fond of watercolor. It was this circle, which would later grow into the artistic association "World of Art", that shaped Bakst's views and his direction in painting. In 1891, Lev traveled abroad for the first time, he traveled around Germany, Italy, Belgium and France, visiting museums. From 1893 to 1896 he studied at the studio of French artists in Paris. At this time, Leo gains his first fame as a good watercolorist.

Bakst the portrait painter

The artist Lev Bakst was forced to constantly fulfill orders that did not give him pleasure. He rested and embodied his ideas in portraits, which are gradually becoming popular. They showed the exquisite manner of the artist, his skill as a draftsman and the ability to penetrate the psychology of the character. Starting to paint portraits in 1896, he periodically turned to this genre throughout his life. Among his best works are portraits of A. Benois, I. Levitan, mature works of the early 20th century, portraits of Z. Gippius, I. Rubinstein, S. Diaghilev with his nanny, J. Cocteau, V. Zucchini. Most of the artist's creative heritage is made up of drawings, he madesketches of faces that attracted his attention, sketched portraits of acquaintances and friends.

Bakst the painter

Lev Bakst, whose paintings are striking in variety, experimented a lot with painting technique. He could write with thick strokes, or he could create a complex canvas with the help of glazing. He did little work in the genre of landscape, but the available works show the impressionist vision of the artist. In the works "Near Nice", "Olive Grove", "Sunflowers under the Sun" one feels the light and air of nature, the author's optimistic worldview is conveyed. Lev Bakst, whose exhibition today could gather a large number of fans of his work in any city in the world, did not feel confident in himself as a painter. He too easily succumbed to influence from outside and did not develop a clear, own manner of writing. But the undoubted masterpieces are his works "Dinner", "In a cafe", "Ancient horror".

Bakst and theater

Most of all, Bakst Lev Samoilovich showed his talents in theatrical works. He was very fond of this art form. Lev Bakst, whose exhibition of theatrical scenery and costumes is invariably accompanied by a full house, works a lot and with great pleasure for the S. Diaghilev Theater. He brilliantly designs the ballets Scheherazade, Cleopatra, Narcissus, and The Firebird. Bakst became a real co-author of spectacles, organically embodying the director's idea in scenery, lighting, costumes. Since 1910 the artist lives in Paris and collaborates with the theater of S. Diaghilev. It is in cooperation with him that Bakst accomplishesa real revolution in scenography and theatrical design.

Various talent

Bakst Lev not only proved himself in painting and scenography, in fact, he was a designer. He often designed costumes, and not only for the stage. It was he who came up with the emblem, as they would say today, the logo, for the World of Art magazine. He created interior design for exquisite ladies' boudoirs, for the premises of the Diaghilev entreprise. Bakst also worked on the creation of exhibition displays. Working on theatrical costumes, Lev discovered the talent of a stylist, he drew sketches of ladies' outfits and became a real trendsetter in the Art Nouveau style. He also turned out to be a good teacher. Elizaveta Zvantseva invited Bakst to her art school in 1900, where he tried to help young talents find their own style in painting. It was he who first saw the talent in his student - Marc Chagall.

Private life

Lev Bakst, whose paintings were such a success and brought him great fame, was completely unlucky in his personal life. His first love for the French actress Marcel Josset was very unhappy. It ended only thanks to the departure of the artist from Paris. In St. Petersburg, he falls in love with the daughter of P. Tretyakov, who by that time was a widow with a child in her arms. Bakst accepts Lutheranism in order to marry his beloved. The marriage was unsuccessful, although the son of the artist, Andrei, was born in it. The couple spent a lot of time apart and eventually divorced in 1910. But he continued to be friends with his ex-wife and stepdaughter, in 1921 theyinvitation were able to leave the Soviet Union and settle in Paris.

In the last years of his life, Bakst worked a lot in Paris, America, England, this undermined his he alth, and on December 28, 1924 he died suddenly.