The dancer Nijinsky

The collection and archive of Bethlem Royal Hospital contains intriguing pieces, including one from the Russian dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.

Nijinsky suffered a mental breakdown (which was finally diagnosed as schizophrenia) after he had eloped with a young follower of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, for whom Nijinsky worked, and realised that he would never work again. The early part of the decline in his mental health resulted in drawings and paintings, one of which is in the Bethlem collection and is featured in this week's blog from the hospital.