Exhibition dedicated to Sergei Diaghilev opened at the Tretyakov Gallery

The “Diaghilev. Final Rehearsal” exhibition has been open at the Tretyakov Gallery since October 4 and is timed to the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of Russia’s most prominent men in theater arts. Sergei Diaghilev is most widely knowns as a ballet impresario. The itinerant Ballets Russes that he arranged in Paris became a major success of the Russian music and theater art. From 1911 to 1929, Diaghilev was an art director of the Ballets Russes itinerant company: his performances, which combined choreography and decorative art with modern music, not only asserted the prestige of the Russian ballet, but also directed the dance development way throughout the world.

The Tretyakov Gallery owns one of the most impressive collections related to the front and hidden sides of the Ballets Russes. The new exhibition includes 13 stage costumes created as part of projects by Alexander Golovin, Leon Bakst, Natalia Goncharova, Nicholas Roerich, the decoration to the Polovtsian Dances being one of the most well-known performances, over 200 graphic works, rare archive photos, as well as files from the Tretyakov Gallery’s manuscript department and Mikhail Larionov’s ballet library. These unique exhibition items have been presented before the wide audience for the first time.

Photo: Tretyakov Gallery