World ballet stars in the lens of the legendary Serge Lido. 1930-1980s

The Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow for the first time in Russia presents an exhibition of the works of the legendary ballet photographer Serge Lido (1906-1984) from the collection of Pierre Paolo Cossa. For half a century, Serge Lido has created the most complete archive of photographs of world ballet stars, among which were Roland Petit, Nina Vyrubova, Vaclav Nizhinsky, Serge Lifar, Milorad Mishkovich, Alicia Markova, Margot Fontaine, Rudolf Nureyev, Moris Bezhar, Marta Graham, Maya Plisetskaya, Mikhail Baryshnikov and others, as well as a portrait gallery of the world art and intellectual elite, including photographs of Jean Cocteau, Edith Piaf, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso, Jean Marais, Maria Callas, Bridget Bardot, Pierre Cardin and others. Serge Lido was printed in the largest otographic and fashion magazines (by the way, the pseudonym “Serge Lido” Sergey Lidov was advised to take VU editor-in-chief Lucien Vogel), published the annuals La Danse (“Dance”), Ballet (“Ballet”) and released 25 photo albums, which became a real encyclopedia of world ballet, to get into that was an honor for the best dancers in the world.

“The dance comes to life thanks to the photographs and aesthetic intuition of Lido, a friend of great artists. It’s rare to find among French stars a man so devoted to the art of the world, and for this I certainly want to pay tribute to him. ”
Pierre Cardin, 1983

Sergey Lidov ended up in Paris at the age of 18, was educated as a political scientist, and began working at Rockefeller Bank. His fate could have been different if it had not been for a meeting with Irene Kaminsky. She emigrated to Paris from St. Petersburg, where she studied ballet under the direction of prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Olga Preobrazhenskaya. After graduating from the Sorbonne and receiving a bachelor’s degree, Irene began working as a journalist, not forgetting about her main passion for life - ballet. Once having met her teacher on the street, she began to help Preobrazhenskaya in her studio known throughout Paris. Irene also joined the VU magazine (Vzglyad), where she quickly became an authoritative build editor. At that time, the VU photo-illustrated magazine had the best photo laboratory where prominent Parisian photographers came to show their pictures: Brassay, Andre Curtes and many others. All of them showed their work to Irene Kaminsky and listened to her opinion. With Sergey Lidov, then still a young bank clerk, she was introduced by mutual friends. At first glance, Lidov was conquered by the incredibly bright and charming Irene, but her occupation seemed boring to her. According to legend, it was Irene who gave Lidov the first Rolleiflex camera and offered to try herself as a photographer.

At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, Paris was rightfully the world’s cultural capital, an art laboratory, the center of which was located between Montmartre and Montparnasse. Representatives of the famous Paris school created here, the residence of artists “La Ruche” and the artistic cafe “Closerie des Lilas” were located… Fantastic parties and performances were organized here, the most daring artistic ideas arose and embodied.

Sergey Lidov wandered around the city with his Rolleiflex in search of original subjects, plunging into the hectic artistic life of Paris. His first photo essay, which arose from a series of photos of Le Bal Tabarin cancant dancers among Montmartre vineyards, delighted Irene Kaminsky and VU editor-in-chief and was immediately published in the magazine. Financier Sergei Lidov became a photographer Serge Lido, gaining a solid place in the Paris photographic Olympus, and Irene Kaminsky became his wife, adviser and editor of all future Lido books about ballet.

In 1939, Serge Lido created a series of portraits of Jean Cocteau. Seeing her, the famous poet, well acquainted with the star photographers of Paris, including Man Ray and Edward Steichen, considered Lido’s shooting the best. This was the beginning of a great friendship that lasted throughout the life of the great writer. In 1947, Cocteau said about Serge: “… in the camera hanging on Lido’s neck, his heart beats…. By connecting his soul with the lens, he creates all kinds of forms where movement escapes from the hands of death. " Cocteau introduced Serge Lido into the circle of the Parisian intellectual elite, whose representatives appreciated the talent of the photographer and later with pleasure participated in his photo shoots. It was Jean Cocteau, who was close friends with Sergei Diaghilev, who introduced Lido to the stars of the great ballet troupe, after the death of Diaghilev recreated under the name "Russian Ballet Monte Carlo" (Le Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo). Serge Lifar, Boris Kokhno, Anton Dolin, Alicia Markova, Bronislava Nizhinskaya, Leonid Myasin and other famous performers became friends of Serge Lido - he accompanied and photographed many along their path in art.

Almost half a century, Irene Lidova and Serge Lido had a huge impact on the contemporary ballet, the origins of which date back to the Diaghilev seasons. Starting in the second half of the 30s, the Lidovs, who were engaged in supporting young talents, revealed many new names to the world. Among them: Roland Petit, Nina Vyrubova, Milorad Mishkovich, Eric Brun, Rudolf Nureyev, Yuri Solovyov, Marta Graham, Maya Plisetskaya…

Irene Lidova and Serge Lido were involved in the birth of many famous ballet troupes. Back in the 40s, Irene organized a series of performances that glorified Roland Petit and Jeanine Sharra, and then, together with Petit, took part in the creation of the Les Ballets des Champs-Elysées, a troupe that continued the avant-garde traditions of Sergei Diaghilev, about which soon spoke all of Paris. For more than 10 years, Irene Lidova was the press secretary of the legendary ballet of the Marquis de Cuevas (which once included the New Monte Carlo Ballet directed by Serge Lifar), and Serge Lido worked as an official photographer of the troupe. It was in the composition of the “International Ballet of the Marquis de Cuevas” that Rudolf Nureyev performed for the first time in the West after his sensational flight and requests for political asylum.

At the beginning of the 60s, the Bolshoi Theater toured Paris, which, of course, did not pass by Serge and Irene Lidova, facilitating the collaboration of the Bolshoi’s main star, Maya Plisetskaya, with Roland Petit and Maurice Bejart, and Pierre Cardin, a longtime friend of Serge, became an avid fan of the ballerina.

Over the 45 years of his photographic career, Serge Lido has created a unique photo chronicle of social and artistic life. He attended the premieres of cult performances and concerts around the world, made photo reports from rehearsals, had the privilege of filming in workshops and make-up rooms, watching his heroes in moments of relaxation and highest concentration. The pictures of Lido show the Parisian tour of the stunning Indian dancer Ram Gopal, the outstanding cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the popular violinist Yehudi Menuhin, the author of the incredible glam theater Lindsay Kemp, the most famous butoh dance performers in Paris - Koh Murobushi and Carlotta Ikeda. For almost 40 years, Lido was the official photographer of the Cannes Film Festival, and the editors fought for his portraits of movie stars: Marlene Dietrich, Sophia Loren, Yves Montana, Jean Gaben, Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Magnani, Orson Welles…

The photographs presented at the exhibition at MAMM are accompanied by detailed texts by Pierre Paolo Koss, a famous artist, director and choreographer who is in love with photography and is closely acquainted with Serge Lido and Irene Lidova. Thanks to their friendship, not only magnificent performances were created, but also unique stories were collected, which Pier Paolo Koss generously shares with Moscow spectators. The Multimedia Art Museum has already shown Pierre Paolo Cossa’s projects in Moscow twice: the Hybridization exhibition was held as part of the 2008 Photobiennale, and this year the Glam Aesthetics of Power project was presented at the Fashion and Photography Festival. Travel to North Korea. "