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  • The American Scholar

    THE EPHEMERAL ART

    Sep 01, 2022 4 minutes
    Review by Vivien Schweitzer

    "Your Majesty,” Sergei Diaghilev told King Alfonso of Spain at a reception in Madrid in 1916, “I am like you. I don’t work, I do nothing. But I am indispensable.” In Diaghilev’s Empire: How the Ballets Russes Enthralled the World, Rupert Christiansen, dance critic of The Spectator, vividly highlights how the Russian impresario Diaghilev was both indispensable and undeterrable as he pursued his dream of showcasing Russian art and music and commissioning groundbreaking collaborations.

    The Ballets Russes, which Diaghilev founded in 1909, never actually performed in Russia. Many artists fled the country during the Bolshevik Revolution, after which a homesick Diaghilev was in permanent exile in Europe. Christiansen’s book, which commemorates the 150th anniversary of Diaghilev’s birth, also

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