Rolf de Maré
A visionary Swedish patron who bankrolled Parisian avant-garde ballet and founded the world's first museum dedicated to the art of dance.
1888–1964 (age 76)·Swedish art collector·Birthday: May 9·The Lost Generation
Biography
Rolf de Maré was a man of independent wealth and impeccable taste who used his fortune not merely to collect art, but to animate it. Moving to Paris in the 1920s, he became the financial engine and director of the Ballets Suédois, a radical company that rivaled Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Under his guidance, the company premiered works that fused modernist music, avant-garde visual art, and choreography, collaborating with figures like Fernand Léger and Cole Porter. When the ballet company dissolved, de Maré's passion for dance found a new, scholarly outlet. In 1931, he established the Archives Internationales de la Danse in Paris, a pioneering institution that housed a library, museum, and performance space—the first of its kind globally. Though the museum closed after World War II, its collections formed a vital seed for future dance archives. De Maré's later years were spent traveling the world, documenting folk and ritual dances, ensuring his legacy was that of a preserver as much as a provocateur.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Rolf was born in 1888, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Rolf Was Born
The biggest hits of 1888
Rolf's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1888Born
President: Grover Cleveland
1893Started school
World's Columbian Exposition dazzles Chicago
President: Grover Cleveland
1901Became a teenager
Queen Victoria dies, ending the Victorian era
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1904Could drive
New York City opens its first subway line
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1906Could vote
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1909Turned 21
Robert Peary claims to reach the North Pole
President: William Howard Taft
1918Turned 30
World War I ends; Spanish flu pandemic kills millions
President: Woodrow Wilson
1928Turned 40
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin; Mickey Mouse debuts
President: Calvin Coolidge"Ol' Man River" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: Wings
1938Turned 50
Kristallnacht and the escalation toward WWII
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $2,850Min wage: $0.25/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Begin the Beguine" — Artie ShawBest Picture: You Can't Take It with You
1948Turned 60
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1958Turned 70
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1964Died at 76
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
Key Achievements
- Founded and directed the avant-garde Ballets Suédois in Paris from 1920 to 1925, commissioning groundbreaking works.
- Established the Archives Internationales de la Danse in Paris in 1931, the world's first museum and research center dedicated to dance.
- Was a major collector and patron of modern art, supporting artists associated with the Parisian avant-garde.
- Documented folk dances from around the world during extensive travels in the 1950s.
Did You Know?
He inherited his wealth from his family's extensive forestry and newspaper businesses in Sweden.
The Ballets Suédois famously premiered 'Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel', a surrealist production with a libretto by Jean Cocteau.
His personal art collection included significant works by painters like Nils von Dardel and Giorgio de Chirico.
After his death, his ethnographic film and photo collection of dances became part of the Stockholm Museum of Ethnography.
“I want to support artists who make the stage a living painting.”
