Balthus

Balthus (Count Balthasar Klossowski de Rola) (bôl`thəs, băl`–), 1908–2001, Polish-French painter, b. Paris. Balthus is widely regarded as one of the most important figurative painters of the modern era. He began painting as a young man and had his first one-man show in 1934. Balthus soon developed a distinctive style, producing poetic, calm, yet erotically charged and oddly disorienting paintings. Many of them are extremely large with thickly built-up surfaces and feature dreamy, sensual, and enigmatically posed adolescent girls. His other typical subjects are brooding landscapes and distinctive portraits. Balthus was also known for his stage designs.

Bibliography

See his memoirs, Vanished Splendors (2002).

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Balthus

 orig. Balthazar Klossowski

(born Feb. 29, 1908, Paris, Fr.—died Feb. 18, 2001, La Rossinière, Switz.) French painter. Born in Paris to Polish parents, he was considered a child prodigy and was encouraged by family friends including Pierre Bonnard, André Derain, and Rainer Maria Rilke. Without formal training, he supported himself through commissions for stage sets and portraits. He had his first one-man show in 1934. In the midst of 20th-century avant-gardism, he explored the traditional categories of European painting: the landscape, the still life, the subject painting, and the portrait. He presented ordinary moments of contemporary life on a grand scale and utilized traditional, Old Master painting techniques. Balthus is best known for his controversial depictions of adolescent girls. His disturbing and erotic images and his carefully cultivated persona made him an international cult figure. From 1961 to 1977 he served as director of the French Academy in Rome.