The Butterfly (Costume Design for Anna Pavlova)

Anna Pavlova was the most famous ballerina of her day, known everywhere for The Dying Swan, a short solo the choreographer Michel Fokine made for her in 1905. After dancing in the first Paris seasons of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes she went her own way, touring the world with her own company, and in 1913 Léon Bakst drew this costume for her as a butterfly. It is watercolour over graphite pencil, on a sheet about 45 centimetres tall. The next year, 1914, Bakst's designs went on show in several American cities, Boston among them, and in that same year two Boston benefactors, Mrs. John Munro Longyear and Mrs. Walter Scott Fitz, gave this sheet to the Museum of Fine Arts.