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Overview
The first full-scale biography of one of the most elusive and enigmatic painters of our time - the self-proclaimed Count Balthus Klossowski de Rola - whose brilliantly rendered, markedly sexualized portraits, especially of young girls, are among the most memorable images in contemporary art.. "In 1934 his first exhibition, in Paris, stunned the art world. The seven canvases drew attention to his extraordinary technique - a mix of tradition and imagination informed by the work of Piero della Francesca, Courbet, and Joseph Reinhardt, but unique to the twenty-six-year-old artist - and to their provocative content; one of the paintings, The Guitar Lesson, was so powerful in its sadomasochistic imagery that it was deemed necessary to remove it from public display.. "Continuously since then, Balthus's work has provoked both great opprobrium and profound admiration - as has the artist himself, whether collaborating with Antonin Artaud on his Theater of Cruelty, transforming the Villa Medici into the social center of Fellini's Rome in the 1950s, or competing for the artistic limelight with his friends Picasso and Andre Derain.. "The artist's complexities are clarified and his genius understood in a book that derives its particular immediacy from Weber's long and intense conversations with Balthus - who never previously consented to discuss his life and work with a biographer - as well as his interviews with the painter's closest friends, members of his family, and many of the subjects of his controversial canvases.Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
A highly regarded art historian (Patron Saints), Weber ingeniously structures his biography of 91-year-old Balthazar Klossowska, or Balthus, by draping his voluminous investigations over facts that emerged during his visit with the famously reclusive painter and his Japanese wife at their elegant Swiss chalet in 1991. A French citizen of Polish ancestry who has claimed descent from Polish nobility, the Romanovs and Lord Byron, Balthus survived a childhood of economic hardship and displacement with the help of his mother's lover, poet Ranier Maria Rilke. In his work, Balthus uses Old Master coloring to depict scenes in canvases whose atmospheric haze and violated figures (many of them highly eroticized adolescents) belie the compositions' sturdy grids. Weber explores Balthus's many influences, from the work of Piero della Francesca to psychoanalytic theory and his brother's fascination with the Marquis de Sade. Again and again, Weber insists that the artist articulate the intentions behind each and every element in his work. Of course, no painter could, and Balthus, whether from age, puckishness or the sincere conviction that his art must speak for itself, toys with Weber throughout their conversations. The friction between the two forces Weber to do his own--at times heroic--research. Whether visiting a sex crimes unit in Manhattan, the New York apartment of Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos or an acquaintance from Balthus's days as director of the French Academy in Rome, Weber assiduously records the evidence for his psychosexual view of Balthus's paintings. In the process, Weber does justice to both the artist and his art. If he occasionally adopts a gossipy tone, that's a minor flaw in a book that will remain a splendid account of a complex life and as fine an artist's biography as this season is likely to produce. 16 color plates not seen by PW; 116 b&w illus. First serial to the New Yorker. U.K rights, Weidenfeld &Nicholson. Reader Subscriptions Book Club selection. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.Library Journal
With the artist's approval, Weber (Patron Saints) has created a portrait of the elusive and mysterious Balthus. Probing the inner man and his work, the author partially explains the mystique that has surrounded this critically acclaimed and self-invented painter whose surreal, sexually charged images are both disturbing and haunting. The artist would like to set the record straight for posterity, insisting that there is nothing psychological about his work, that he is merely painting everyday life. But through extensive meetings with Balthus over a period of years at his castle in Switzerland and a study of various documents, Weber interprets the myth and symbolic representations in the significant paintings, peeling away their meaning layer by layer to uncover the man who made them. More than official in tone (unlike prior biographers, such as Jean Leymarie) Weber is questioning, affectionate, and convincing--yet he seems to solve only half of the puzzle. While the length of this well-illustrated book may be a deterrent, it should create a buzz in art circles, keeping everyone guessing--which may have been Balthus's intention all along. Recommended for larger public libraries and all 20th-century art collections.--Ellen Bates, New York Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.Booknews
Highlighted by 116 b&w illustrations and 16 pages of color duplications, this book contains both a chronological and artistic biography of Balthus, whose portraits, especially of young girls, have caused considerable comment (and controversy) in the art world. Weber, who has curated retrospectives of the work of Josef Albers, Anni Albers, and Leland Bell, and has written nine other books, analyzes the artist's work both in terms of its aesthetic value as well as what it shows of the painter's personality. His intense personal interviews with Balthus and his family, friends, and even some of his models, provide ample primary material for this literary portrait. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Book Details
Published
October 1, 1999
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
Pages
656
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780679407379