Costume design for a bacchante in 'Narcisse' by Tcherepnin 1911

Léon Bakst made this costume design for a bacchante in 'Narcisse' with paint, gouache, and charcoal. Look how he lays down these flat planes of colour: reds, greens, yellows and browns combine to make this dynamic figure practically leap off the page. Bakst's Bacchante is a whirlwind of texture and colour, a dance of earth tones and passionate energy. See the way the gouache sits so flat against the paper, the addition of charcoal bringing a stark contrast? The figure surges with a life force of its own. Check out that swathe of drapery around her— it almost has a life of its own, twisting and turning. It feels like Bakst is trying to capture not just a costume, but a feeling, a moment of pure, unbridled ecstasy. This dynamism reminds me a little of Franz Marc, who also sought to capture something of the raw, unbridled energy of life in his paintings of animals. Art is just one big conversation, isn't it?