Diaghilev: A Life

Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 552 pages, [8] pages of plates, illustrations (some colour); 26 cm. Near fine. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Top edge lightly soiled. Dust jacket protected in a mylar cover. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by arrangement. "Serge Diaghilev, founder and impresario of the Ballets Russes, revolutionized ballet by bringing together composers such as Stravinsky and Prokofiev, dancers and choreographers such as Nijinsky and Karsavina, Fokine and Balanchine, and artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Bakst, and Goncharova. An accomplished, flamboyant impresario of all the arts, Diaghilev became a legend. From a minor noble family in remote Perm, he became a central figure in the artistic worlds of Paris, London, Berlin, and Madrid during the golden age of modern art. He lived through bankruptcy, war, revolution, and exile; furthermore he lived openly as a homosexual, and his liaisons, most famously with Nijinsky, and his turbulent friendships with Stravinsky, Coco Chanel, Prokofiev, and Jean Cocteau gave his life an exceptionally dramatic quality. Scheijen's biography, based on extensive research in little-known archives, brings to life a complex and powerful personality with boundless creative energy." - Publisher.. Hardcover. Very Good/Fine. 4to.