Bakst, Léon (1866-1924). Russian painter and theatrical designer. Born in Russia, Lejb-Khaim Rosenberg decided to become an artist when he was twelve. He studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. In 1889 he took the surname Bakst. In 1893 Bakst went to Paris to study for four years, becoming a part of Sergei Diaghilev’s avant-garde artistic group. He became known as a portraitist in the early twentieth century, then in 1909 turned to stage and costume design for Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, the work for which he is now best known. In 1922 he visited the U.S., where his friend and patron Alice Warder Garrett had organized exhibitions of his work. Willa Cather met Bakst in Paris in 1923. When a women’s federation in Omaha was raising funds to have a portrait painted of her, Bakst suggested he do the portrait. Cather enjoyed talking with Bakst during the sittings, but, like other viewers, she had mixed reactions to the finished portrait.

Shotwell, Margaret Badollet (c.1885-after 1944). American poet and socialite. Born in Nebraska, Margaret Badollet married the Republican politician Franklin Shotwell. Margaret Shotwell was active in Omaha literary circles, initiating “Nebraska Writers Week” and writing the weekly column "Bibliophile by Badollet" in the Omaha Daily News. Shotwell’s controversial poem “Will Willa?,” which criticized Léon Bakst’s portrait of Willa Cather commissioned for the Omaha Public Library, was published in the Omaha Daily News and reprinted in Publishers Weekly.