Russian artist and scenographer Leon Bakst, 1900s. Leon Bakst (Lev Samoilovich Rosenberg) (1866-1924) is perhaps best known for his set and costume designs for the Ballets Russes. Between 1908 and 1910 he taught the Russian-born French artist Marc Chagall at the Zvantseva School of Painting and Drawing in St Petersburg. In 1910 Chagall defied Bakst's advice and moved to Paris.