The Nevsky Pickwickians was an informal circle of art-loving and intellectual friends who were students at the

University of St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public university, public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a de ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

at the end of the 19th century. The group originally included

Alexandre Benois Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Бенуа́, also spelled Alexander Benois; ,Salmina-Haskell, Larissa. ''Russian Paintings and Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum''. pp. 15, 23-24. Published by ...

(effectively its leader),

Léon Bakst Léon Bakst (russian: Леон (Лев) Николаевич Бакст, Leon (Lev) Nikolaevich Bakst) – born as Leyb-Khaim Izrailevich (later Samoylovich) Rosenberg, Лейб-Хаим Израилевич (Самойлович) Розенбе ...

Walter Nouvel Walter Feodorovich Nouvel (russian: Вальтер Федорович Нувель) (1871–1949) was a Russian émigré art-lover and writer. He co-wrote with Arnold Haskell a biography of Sergei Pavlovitch Diaghilev (''Diaghileff. His Artisti ...

Dmitry Filosofov Dmitry Vladimirovich Filosofov (russian: Дми́трий Влади́мирович Филосо́фов; in Saint Petersburg – 4 August 1940 in Otwock, Poland) was a Russian author, essayist, literary critic, religious thinker, newspaper edit ...

and

Konstantin Somov Konstantin Andreyevich Somov (russian: Константин Андреевич Сомов; November 30, 1869 – May 6, 1939) was a Russian artist associated with the ''Mir iskusstva''. Biography Early life Konstantin Somov was born on ...

. In 1890, Filosofov introduced his cousin

Serge Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

to the group. Although at first the older members considered Diaghilev to be provincial, he quickly learned from the other members (especially Benois), and eventually displayed his innate talent for organization and administration.Walsh (1999), p. 129. In 1898, members of The Nevsky Pickwickians founded the journal ''

Mir iskusstva ''Mir iskusstva'' ( rus, «Мир искусства», p=ˈmʲir ɪˈskustvə, ''World of Art'') was a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it inspired and embodied, which was a major influence on the Russians who helped revolutionize Eur ...

'' (''World of Art'') with financial backing of

Princess Maria Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva (née Pyatkovskaya, in the first marriage - Nikolaeva, (20 May 1858 – 14 April 1928) was a Russian Princess, artist, educator, philanthropist and collector. She was born May 20, 1858, in St. Petersburg. Maria Tenisheva ...

and

Savva Mamontov Savva Ivanovich Mamontov (russian: Са́вва Ива́нович Ма́монтов, ; 3 October 1841 (15 October N.S.), Yalutorovsk – 6 April 1918, Moscow) was a Russian industrialist, merchant, entrepreneur and patron of the arts. Busine ...

. Diaghilev went on to become the impresario of the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. A ...

which gave its first performances in Paris in 1909. Over the course of the next twenty years (until Diaghilev's death in 1929), the company continued as one of the period's most influential performing arts organizations. Its success was due, in no small part, to the participation of "Nevsky Pickwickians" Benois and Bakst, who designed sets and costumes for many of its productions.

References

;Notes {{Reflist ;Bibliography *Garofala, Lynn. ''Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.'' (New York: Da Capo Press, 1998) *Walsh, Stephen. ''Stravinsky: A Creative Spring.'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999) Saint Petersburg State University