Washington Celebrates Russian Ballet Impresario Sergei Diaghilev

A multimedia exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington pays tribute to Russian art impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who founded the ground-breaking Ballets Russes in Paris in the early 20th century and gave then unknown artists, including composer Igor Stravinsky, their first break.

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© Photo : V&A, London

A costume designed by Léon Bakst for the Ballets Russes’ “Nymph from Narcissus” in 1911.

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© Photo : V&A, London

Costumes designed by Coco Chanel for the Ballets Russes.

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© Photo : V&A, London

A poster advertising a 1923 performance of the Ballets Russes.

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© Photo : V&A, London

Jean Cocteau’s ‘Stravinsky at the piano’, from 1913.

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© Photo : National Gallery of Art

A gelatin silver print by Man Ray of Igor Stravinsky, who Diaghilev gave his big break.

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© Photo : K. Zeitvogel

The National Gallery of Art, fenced off for construction, with the Capitol in the background.

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© Photo : V&A, London

A costume design by Mikhail Larinov for ‘The Tale of the Buffoon.’

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© Photo : V&A, London

The costume for the Buffoon in ‘The Tale of the Buffoon’, designed by Mikhail Larinov.

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© Photo : V&A, London

A design for a Ballets Russes costume by Pablo Picasso, from 1917.

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© Photo : V&A, London

Vaslav Nijinsky, the star male dancer and choreographer for the Ballets Russes, in Scheherazade, 1910.

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© Photo : Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Conn.

A rendition of a set design by Alexandre Benois, for the ballet ‘Petrushka’ in 1911.