Klossowski de Rola Balthus, Balthazar Count

(2/29/1908 Paris-2/18/2001 Rossiniere, Switzerland) (France/ Switzerland); aka pseudonym Balthus

   Painter, illustrator, and stage designer. He was from an artistic family well connected to the French art world, brother of writer and artist Pierre. Largely self-taught he worked in a classically influenced style emphasizing the human figure . His reclusive lifestyle and frequent depiction of children involved in sexual situations, such as "The Guitar Lesson," have made him one of the most controversial modern artists.

   Reproductions: Guitar lesson; 1934; oil; Smith, 1974: p. 115 ; Webb, 1975: p. 226. Nu Assoupi; 1980; Webb, 1975: p. 421 . Nude with cat; Melville, 1973: fig. 150 ; Lucie-Smith, 1997: p. 100 [C]. Study for a composition; 1963-66; Lucie-Smith, 1972: 182. White skirt; 1936-37; oil; Neret, 1993: p. 11 [C].

   [b]Source: AKL VI 1992: p. 524s; Benezit, vol. 1: pp. 1064-1066; I. Bennett, "Balthus come Giorgione: erotico, lirico e misterioso," Bolaffiarte 11, 99 (June 1980): 20-24; J. Clair, "Eros et Cronos: le rite et le myth dans l'oeuvre de Balthus," Revue de Art 63 (1984): 83-92; DoA v3: pp. 127-28; R. Flood, "Sugar and spice and... : Balthus a retrospective," Artforum 22, 10 (June 1984): 84-85; M. Gibson, "Balthus," Artnews 83, 4 (April 1984): 96-101; S. Hassenkamp, "Diskrete Szenen aus dunklen Traumen," Art: das Kunsbnagazin (2 February 1983): 58-65; Timothy Hyman, "Balthus: a puppet master," Artscribe 23 (June 1980): 30-40; April Kingsley, "The sacred and erotic vision of Balthus," Horizon 22, 12 (December 1979): 26-35; Jean Leymarie, Balthus/Cantini (Marseilles: Musee Cantini, 1973); Michelle Payne, "The recurring image: eroticism in the jeune fille paintings of Balthus" (M.A. thesis, Monash University, 1992), 228 p., ill.; Sabine Rewald, "Balthus, Maler der Erotik zwischen Unschuld und Perversion," Pan (Offenburg) 11 (1990): pp. 26-37; P. Schjeldahl, "Pretty babies," Art & Antiques (March 1984): 92-99; Vollmer I 1953: p. 105.