Bakst

The Rothschild Panels of The Sleeping Beauty

‘Bakst’ by Diana Souhami

Philip Wilson · 128 pp · 1992

The panel paintings of The Sleeping Beauty, by Léon Bakst, were commissioned by James de Rothschild in 1913. The work was completed in 1923 and adorned the walls of 34 Park Street in London and subsequently, in 1930, of 23 St James’s Place. From 1993 the paintings have been on indefinite loan at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. Bakst portrayed a member of the Rothschild family for each of the characters in The Sleeping Beauty. Jacob Rothschild, the 4th Baron Rothschild, commissioned me to write this book about the genesis of the panels.

Spread from ‘Bakst’
Spread from ‘Bakst’