Bakst is more than an a solitary creator. He is an inspirer whose influence radiates forth over a huge periphery. How numerous are the aspects
SKETCH
of modern life that bear Bakst’s indelible seal, which is a label of greatness and which confers an air of nobility in which one is never mistaken!
These are the things of which I am thinking as I turn over with you, my readers, the pages of this book. And as we have finished, we must begin again—this time, however, in silent meditation, which is even more gratifying.
LXI
PORTRAIT OF THE POET ANDREI BELY. CRAYON AND PENCIL