L. S. Bakst: The beginning. Vellum sketches to pantomime «The Heart of the Marquis»

Abstract

The first independent work of Bakst as a theater artist was the design of mime by M. Petipa «The Heart of the Marquis» (1902) on the stage of the Imperial Hermitage theatre. The performance was shown only twice and there isn’t much information about it, although the full set of artist’s vellums of costumes sketches (9 things) has been retained to the present day. These artifacts and correspondence with the artist’s contemporaries help to shed light on the early period of formation Bakst as a master of the scene. In this article the first attempt is made to analyze these sketches (vellums ), to determine the place of pantomime «The Heart of the Marquis» in the works of the artist, outline the methods and techniques that were proposed or on the contrary underdeveloped by Bakst. The author introduces the sketches (vellums) into the scientific turn; some of them are published for the first time.