The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Balthus
(Count Balthasar Klossowski de Rola) (bôl´ths, bl´–) (KEY) , 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.
s, b
l´–) (KEY) , 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.
