This book brings together many texts written by Serge Diaghilev between 1892 and his death in 1929, most of them previously unpublished. Diaghilev, an art critic and exhibition curator, founded Mir Iskusstva (World of Art) in 1898. This magazine played a major role in the emergence of Russian artistic avant-garde. This Russian impresario created the Ballets russes in 1909, a prestigious company that left a deep mark on the history of dance.
Brought together for the first time, in chronological order, Diaghilev’s writings on painting, music and dance are combined with interviews published in the media and documenting his activities as a ballet and opera producer, and with his correspondence with some of the great figures of his time (Tolstoï, Tchekhov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Ravel, Debussy, Poulenc, Falla, Cocteau, etc.). Through these texts and the journey that they describe, a whole segment of our cultural history is brought back to life.
Remarkably rich and eclectic, this book provides the reader with many unpublished texts in French. Featuring 69 in-text colour illustrations, it documents a major period of art creation in Europe both in painting, music and dance.