Costume Design for Man in a Green Jacket, for Ballet Boutique Fantasque

What you are looking at

A single male figure stands in three-quarter view against a plain background, angled to show both profile and front. He wears a vibrant lime-yellow-green jacket with a distinctive peplum waist that flares sharply over the hips, revealing decorative white fabric beneath with ornamental patterning. The jacket has substantial padding at the shoulders and deep blue-green striping along the sleeves. His legs are covered in boldly striped stockings in alternating bands of dark brown and pale cream or tan. His feet are small and turned outward, clad in yellow shoes with what appear to be decorative curls or flourishes. His face is drawn with exaggerated features—a prominent nose, sharp chin, and tousled reddish-brown curled hair—giving him a theatrical, comic character. He holds one arm behind his back and the other extends forward as if presenting or gesturing, with a painted or stylized hand. The drawing employs watercolor washes for the yellow and green tonalities, with ink outlines defining form and detail.

The dancing

A solitary figure in an artificial pose that emphasizes display over naturalism. The posture is deliberately staged—weight appears evenly distributed or slightly favoring the back leg, with the forward arm extended in a presentational gesture suggestive of court manner or theatrical convention. The turned-out feet and the exaggerated proportions of the torso (especially the pronounced peplum) suggest a dancer's silhouette, though the static pose is one of presentation rather than action. The figure reads as a character type or stock role rather than a naturalistic body in motion.

The dance depicted

This is a costume design for theatrical dance, likely for a character in an early-twentieth-century ballet or theatrical entertainment. The term 'Boutique Fantasque' (Fantastic Boutique) suggests a production of short comic or character pieces, typical of early-modernist ballet programming of the 1910s–20s. The exaggerated costume—the peplum jacket, striped stockings, and comic physiognomy—indicates a character dance or comic male role, possibly a merchant, courtier, or valet figure drawn from commedia dell'arte traditions that fed early ballet satire. The pose is one of theatrical presentation rather than technical display, suggesting mime or character acting rather than classical technique.

How it was made

Watercolor and graphite on ivory laid paper, mounted on gray board. The technique allows for rapid notation of color and silhouette—essential for costume design communication—while the graphite underdrawing provides precise definition of form. The method is typical of theatrical costume design of the period: economical, direct, and focused on the visual impact of dress rather than anatomical subtlety. The mounting suggests this was a presentation piece, possibly shown to dancers, directors, or patrons for approval before execution.

About this work

This is a costume design drawing by Léon Bakst for a male character in a 1918 ballet production. Bakst's designs were among the most influential in early-twentieth-century theatrical dance, defining the visual language of the Ballets Russes and its successors. The drawing captures the theatrical wit and coloristic boldness that made his work legendary: the lime-yellow jacket and striped stockings transform the male body into a vehicle for comic character and visual pleasure. As a design document, it reveals how Bakst translated choreographic intention into silhouette and ornament—how the peplum waist and bulging proportions would read from the audience as a recognizable character type, and how color harmony (the yellow against blue-green and warm browns) would anchor the figure within a larger stage composition.

For a dance historian, this drawing is valuable documentation of how male character roles were conceived and costumed in early-twentieth-century ballet. It demonstrates the persistence of commedia dell'arte influences in modernist dance, and the degree to which early ballet design relied on exaggerated silhouette and bright color rather than illusionistic representation. The drawing also speaks to Bakst's own practice: he was not primarily a painter but a designer for the stage, and his drawings were working documents—quick, assured, and directly purposeful.

How to look at it

Note the exaggeration of the costume's proportions—the peplum is dramatically wide, the legs are stick-thin beneath it, the shoes are small and delicate. This disproportion is deliberate: from the audience, the silhouette would read as a comic or character type instantly recognizable within theatrical convention. Watch how Bakst has used color to organize the figure: the yellow jacket draws the eye, the striped stockings anchor it, the shoes complete it. The pose itself—turned-out feet, one arm back, one arm forward—is one of presentation, not action; it shows the costume from the front and side simultaneously, allowing a viewer (dancer, director, or patron) to understand how the costume would appear in space. The careful notation of patterning (the white and ornamental details on the skirt underlay, the blue striping on the sleeves) indicates Bakst's attention to how light and movement would animate the design on stage.

The artist

Léon Bakst (1868–1924) was a Russian painter, designer, and impresario who became one of the most influential theatrical designers of the early twentieth century. He was a founding member of the Mir iskusstva (World of Art) movement and served as principal designer for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from its founding in 1909. Bakst's designs were celebrated for their vivid color, historical and ethnographic imagination, and the precision with which he understood the dancer's body in motion. He designed costumes, sets, and lighting for over eighty productions, establishing a new standard for theatrical design as a total art form integrated with choreography. His work influenced fashion and interior design as well as dance.

The period

This drawing dates to 1918, a moment when the Ballets Russes was at the height of its influence and when theatrical design had begun to embrace modernism while maintaining links to historical and vernacular traditions. The decade following 1910 saw sustained experimentation with commedia dell'arte subjects and comic character dances—partly in reaction to the dominance of romantic and exotic narratives. Bakst's designs from this period often drew on folk and historical sources, translated through a modernist sensibility. By 1918, however, the Ballets Russes was beginning to fragment, and new directions were emerging in both dance and design—yet Bakst's approach to color and silhouette remained central to how dance was visualized for the stage.

Where it lives

This drawing is housed in the Prints and Drawings collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, indicating it was acquired as part of a collection of design materials or theatre ephemera. The mounting on gray board and the notation style suggest it was a presentation or working drawing, created for communication within a theatre company or to a client.

Dance in this work

Questions about this work