Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes arrived in Paris in 1909 and immediately turned ballet into a high fashion in the Western hemisphere. But in 1920 a rival introduced itself to Paris: the Ballets Suédois. This company dared to perform in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, home ground of the Russians before the First World War. The newcomers quickly established themselves in the French capital and challenged Diaghilev's concept of avant-garde ballet. They took modernism to a new level and defined avant-garde not through the brilliance of ballet stars or spectacular extravaganza but through a concept that extended beyond all known theatrical conventions. Throughout its brief and hectic existence from 1920 to 1925, the Ballets Suédois were constantly criticised for being not Swedish enough as well as too Swedish, and above all for not presenting real ballet. In many ways the critics were right. The company was more international than Swedish in its character and instead of reinforcing the balletic tradition it searched for new paths in dance. The company's name pointed to its Swedish founders and its most prominent dancers. Its existence had come out of the art collection of the Swedish aristocrat Rolf de Maré, who had assembled significant modernist works by European, and particularly French, artists during the 1910s. He himself was the favourite grandchild of another great art collector in Sweden, the Countess Wilhelmina von Hallwyl. Around 1900 she was considered one of the wealthiest people in her country. Her grandson inherited her fascination for art and for collecting it. Both grandparents provided Rolf de Maré with the financial independence to pursue his exquisite but expensive interests. This financial independence also allowed him to feel secure enough to live his life as openly gay.