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Serge Diaghilev once said, ‘We must create a breakthrough, we must amaze and not be afraid to amaze, we must make our entrance all at once, display our every facet, all the merits and the shortcomings of our national identity’. Without a doubt, Diaghilev was an indomitable force not only in the export of Russian culture but in the development of 20th century art as a whole. Most well-known for the Ballets Russes but his legacy stretches far further. Having befriended Alexandre Benois and Léon Bakst he formed the literary journal, Mir Isskustva [World of Art] in 1899. Issues of the journal rarely made it into Western Europe but the artistic movement which it embodied was revolutionary.

Diaghilev was at times described as tyrannical but as Benois once said he personified the strength and the charm of his fatherland. Whether it was organising exhibitions of Russian artists, editing Mir Isskustva or creating new ballets, Diaghilev’s resounding talent was to attract a circle of gifted artists to work with him. From Russian folklore and pagan motifs with Bakst, Benois, Bilibin and Kustodiev to avant-garde designs of Goncharova, Kandinskiy and Gladky (see items 46-50).

Diaghilev promoted Russian art across the spectrum. Not only did he unlock the potential of so many but he inspired so many more, regardless of location. George Lepape and Paul Poiret (see items 31 & 32) have Diaghilev to thank for unearthing new styles that were unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. This catalogue is but a small slice of Diaghilev’s world but is testament to its creative achievements and artistic breakthroughs.