THE ART OF EXTRAVAGANCE II

Costumes from Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in Paris

19th May – 29th August 2004

A glorious fanfare of costumes from one of the main epochs of the 20th century, when the Ballets Russes under Serge Diaghilev in Paris made ballet the height of fashion, involving the leading artists of the time.
The Ballets Russes company was already setting the fashion after its initial Parisian seasons from 1909 to 1911. Its oriental ballets came as an inspiration to fashion houses and to the interior designers of hotels, restaurants and other public places, as well as private homes. The Ballets Russes became a style and a concept, sold to a large public and still a major source of inspiration to fashion designers like Yves Saint-Laurent and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

To mark the 75th anniversary this year of Diaghilev’s death in 1929, our summer season will feature the second part of the big exhibition presented in 1996 concerning this fascinating and seminal epoch – priceless costumes by André Derain, Natalia Gontcharova and Mikhail Larionov in a firework display of colour and form whose freshness, beauty and impact remain nothing short of astounding.

Click here to find pictures from the exhibition