A handwritten letter and a book with an inscription and autographs by Sergei Diaghilev and Serge Lifar

Sergei Diaghilev is a Russian theatrical and artistic figure, philanthropist. Russian Russian Ballet is one of the founders and main ideologists of the Mir Iskusstvo society and the magazine of the same name, the organizer of the Russian Seasons in Paris and the Diaghilev Russian Ballet troupe. He played one of the decisive roles in popularizing Russian art in Europe and the world at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and "discovered" many talented ballet dancers, composers, and artists.

Serge Lifar is a ballet dancer, choreographer, dance theorist, and collector. After emigrating from the USSR in 1923, he danced in Diaghilev's "Russian Seasons" until 1929, after which he became the premier. The Paris Opera. A major figure in French choreography, Lifar also lectured on the history and theory of ballet, and was the founder of the Paris University of Choreography and the University of Dance.

In between seasons Lifar went to Italy to Turin to his teacher Enrico Cecchetti also trained at an accelerated pace. In his spare time, he read fiction and criticism — books were specially selected for him by Diaghilev. Sometimes the impresario took Lifar to Milan, Florence or Venice, where they visited art galleries and museums together. Diaghilev introduced him to the French beau monde — Paul Valery and Missy Serte, Jean Cocteau and By Tristan Bernard, Pablo Picasso and Coco Chanel, who became his friend.