supper 1902 Leon Bakst

Description of Leon Bakst’s painting Dinner

One day two artists united by friendship and affinity for the World of Art group, Leon Bakst and Valentin Serov, enjoying the view of the streets of Paris at night, decided to go into a cafe. In the farthest corner sat a woman whose portrait Bakst did not fail to draw on a napkin. She was Anne Kyd, wife of the founder of the World of Art, Alexandre Benois. Well, it’s a small world... Especially in Paris of those years, which attracted the creative elite from other countries, including Russia.

The painting, transferred from a napkin to a canvas, did not go unnoticed among critics, alas, not always in a favorable mood. "The thing is unbearable!" burst out at the sight of the canvas from Vladimir Stasov, a renowned art connoisseur. It would seem, though, that there is nothing shocking in the painting: more than the traditional theme of a bored stranger, the impressionistic manner of painting. Had there been a couple of joyful men sitting next to the woman the painting might have resembled the works of Toulouse-Lautrec and other impressionists. However, Bakst not only captures what he sees, but also seeks to transform it.

The main motif of the painting is the dynamics of the outlines of the environment and the female figure itself, achieved by the successful juxtaposition of the rhythm of the white and blue planes, the edges of the tablecloth and the lady’s undulating dress in the lower part of the painting. Then the movement comes to a standstill, as if it collides with an invisible obstacle. The stranger’s hands, her face and her hat, the disproportion of which makes you think of a flower bud, are already on the same line.

The artist also uses a play of color built on the interchanging of the lady’s hair and oranges, which was done as if to spite Serov’s realistic approach in his "Girl with Peaches". Bakst leaves the woman’s face as if unfinished, which allowed him to emphasize the mystery and intangibility of this lady, juxtaposed with a sensual beauty that can reach the point of viciousness.