1913
watercolor
paperboard
From the collection of Museum of Modern Art
Untitled is a 1913 watercolor by Léon Bakst, depicting Dancer, held at Museum of Modern Art.
You see a tall, fiery figure in a long, flowing robe—gold, red, and black swirls like flames. The costume is for a ballet dancer, with sharp, jagged shapes that look like feathers or fire. This is a design Bakst made for *The Firebird*, a famous ballet. The bright colors and metallic paint make the costume pop, even on paper. It’s not just a sketch—it’s a plan for how the dancer would move under stage lights. If you like this, look up the technique watercolor, glazing—it’s how Bakst built up thin, see-through layers to make the colors glow.
Léon (Lev) Samoylovich Bakst (Russian: Леон (Лев) Самойлович Бакст), born Leyb-Khaim Izrailevich Rosenberg (8 February 1866 – 27 December 1924), was a Russian painter and scene and costume designer of Jewish origin.
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