Le dieu bleu a young rajah 1911

Curator: Here we have Léon Bakst's 1911 work, "Le dieu bleu a young rajah." It's rendered in watercolour, and one immediately notices its roots as a personal sketchbook piece. Editor: Oh, I get immediate fairy-tale vibes, but a slightly subversive one. He looks a bit mischievous, like he’s about to play a trick. Curator: Bakst, known for his stage designs, brings to the fore a fascinating commentary on orientalism. His designs frequently exoticized and romanticized non-Western cultures, contributing to larger colonial narratives about power, race, and the "Other." This "rajah" is very much a product of its time, reflecting these biases. Editor: I can see that, and yet there’s a certain flatness in his gaze. It’s like the costume overwhelms the individual, if that makes any sense. I wonder if that's intentional, a hint of something beyond just simple exoticism. Curator: Perhaps. The interplay of vibrant colours with simplified forms also speaks to the influence of avant-garde movements that Bakst engaged with during this period, challenging traditional representation, and echoing trends visible in other areas such as fashion and theatrical performance. Editor: It's also really playful. I imagine him pirouetting; it's that kind of feel. Curator: Indeed. This drawing embodies a crucial intersection of aesthetics, theatricality, and ideology, providing invaluable insight into understanding not just Bakst's practice but the socio-political underpinnings of the era, especially considering Europe's increasing presence and exploitation within other regions of the world. Editor: So, it’s not just a pretty costume sketch. It's loaded. I see the layers of complexity now – it dances on the page, yes, but there's also a sharp edge to the performance that I was oblivious to. Curator: Precisely. It reveals so much. Editor: Thank you, that gave me much more to consider.