Balthus

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Balthus

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Balthus (Count Balthasar Klossowski de Rola) , 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

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists | 2003 | | © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Balthus ( Balthazar Klossowski de Rola) (1908–2001). French painter (and occasional stage designer), born in Paris of cultured Polish parents, both of whom painted. He had no formal training but was encouraged by the family friends Derain (of whom Balthus painted a memorable portrait(1936, MoMA, New York)) and Bonnard. His work was dominated by erotic imagery, his favourite theme being the adolescent girl awakening to sexual consciousness; characteristically these girls are shown languidly sprawled or kneeling awkwardly over books in claustrophobic interiors that have a suggestion of Surrealist oddness (The Living Room, 1941–3, Minneapolis Inst. of Arts). From 1961 to 1977 he was director of the French Academy in Rome, but otherwise he spent most of his life living in seclusion in France or Switzerland. He worked slowly and his output was small, but his highly distinctive images made him internationally famous, indeed something of a cult figure. His work was generally warmly received by critics as well as the public (although some have accused him of having a Lolita complex) and he is widely regarded as one of the 20th century's leading upholders of the great tradition of figure painting.

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IAN CHILVERS. "Balthus." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 7 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

IAN CHILVERS. "Balthus." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (November 7, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-Balthus.html

IAN CHILVERS. "Balthus." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Retrieved November 07, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-Balthus.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Balthus: A Biography.(Review)
Magazine article from: New Criterion; 1/1/2000
Free Article Balthus lessons. (five controversial works by the French artist)
Magazine article from: Art in America; 9/1/1997
Free Article Balthus, 1908-2001.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
Magazine article from: Art in America; 4/1/2001

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Balthus in Wonderland.(The Providence Journal)
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service; 3/5/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...Klossowski, the enigmatic painter known simply as Balthus, the game can be tricky. Balthus, who died last month at 92, after a remarkably...we might say, echoing Alice. The people in a Balthus painting are like none we know. To Camus, they...
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Magazine article from: New Criterion; 1/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; Nicholas Fox Weber Balthus: A Biography. Alfred A. Knopf, 644...biographical technique for his hefty book on Balthus. He does not offer straight, researched...report on "How I Wrote a Book about Balthus." We hear about Weber's early admiration...
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Newspaper article from: The Scotsman; 3/6/2001; ; 700+ words ; Balthus, artist Born: 29 February, 1908, in...in Rossiniere, Switzerland, aged 92 BALTHUS, widely hailed as one of the 20th century...mystery to all but a few intimate friends. "Balthus is a painter of whom nothing is known...
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Magazine article from: Art in America; 9/1/1997; ; 700+ words ; In his 1934 gallery debut, Balthus showed five large paintings, ambitious...Sixty-three years have passed since Balthus's first solo exhibition, at Pierre...about which more later.) Soby bought Balthus's work from the Galerie Pierre at...
Balthus, 1908-2001.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
Magazine article from: Art in America; 4/1/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...Throughout his career, the artist was known as Balthus, a name suggested by the German poet...For this project, the 13-year-old Balthus created 40 haunting ink drawings of a...admired 20th-century painters in Europe. Balthus was born to German parents who had moved...
Blowing Balthus's cover
Newspaper article from: Evening Standard - London; 12/6/1999; ; 700+ words ; BALTHUS: A Biography by Nicholas Fox Weber (Weidenfeld...frequently quoted anecdote about the painter Balthus is his instruction to John Russell in 1968...The best way to begin is to say: 'Balthus is a painter of whom nothing is known...
Obituary: Balthus
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 2/20/2001; ; 700+ words ; THE WORK of Balthus contains numerous lessons for all serious...or Antonin Artaud, to name but two of Balthus's influential friends. This pose was...part - like that of Marcel Duchamp, whom Balthus resembled physically and to a certain...
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Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 2/19/2001; 700+ words ; Balthus, the idiosyncratic and reclusive artist...birthday. The mayor of Rossiniere said Balthus had been ill for some time, but no cause...given, according to the Associated Press. Balthus was an influential figure in the art world...
Awkward sage: Balthus, 1908-2001. (Passages).(Balthazar Klossowski)(Obituary)
Magazine article from: Artforum International; 6/22/2001; ; 700+ words ; BALTHAZAR KLOSSOWSKI, OR BALTHUS, or the Count de Rola, as he preferred...colored by a certain defensiveness about Balthus's historical position. Other commentators...culture, but wildly mixed feelings about Balthus were reflected in his obituaries...
BALTHUS: LIFE & WORK.(Review)
Magazine article from: Art in America; 12/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; Balthus: A Biography, by Nicholas Fox Weber...Knopf, 1999; 646 pages, $40 hardcover. Balthus: Catalogue Raisonne of the Complete Works...the legendary 92-year-old painter Balthus presents a difficult biographical subject...

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