'A sumptuous illustrated catalog.' Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune Serge Diaghilev (1872 - 1929) was an extraordinarily gifted impresario, curator, director and animator of the arts. He was perfectly at home driving the wave of creative energy that pushed theatrical performance to the cutting edge of cultural activity in the early twentieth century. A roll call of the Ballets Russes' collaborators and circle bears witness to their impact on modernism and later twentieth-century art; Picasso, Stravinsky, Nijinsky, Bakst, Goncharova, Matisse, Chanel, Prokofiev, Man Ray and Cocteau all worked with Diaghilev - and their work is discussed and illustrated here. This beautiful book draws on new research to explore Diaghilev's life, work and cultural milieu. It pulls together the music, pictures, costumes, archives and art of the Ballets Russes to illustrate Diaghilev's working process, accomplishments and society.