Balthus (Balthazar Klossowski de Rola)

Estate of the Artist

London, National Gallery, Encounters: New Art from Old, 2000, illustrated p. 46

As Stanislas Klossowski de Rola, the artist's son, has discussed in the 2000 exhibition held at the National Gallery in London, "It is without question one of the most extraordinary paintings ever painted by Balthus and, unequivocally, one of the most daring magical paintings in the great painter's opus. Yet the painting does not yield its powerful charge to the first cursory glance cast upon it and photography does not do it justice, failing in equal parts to convey its intricate hues, its astonishing presence, its subtle shifts in scale or the many anamorphoses contained therein. This odd shortcoming led my publishers and I to forgo its inclusion in the latest expanded editions of my book on my father. That omission should definitely not be viewed as a dismissal of its capital importance and uniqueness. It is after all, the very first Balthus nude in a landscape and a moonlit landscape to boot. As one sits and contemplates this extraordinary achievement, one will be struck by the fact that the body of the nude constantly changes scale. The beauteous nymph's body appears gigantic as if she was lying over a vast stretch of the mountains and in the next moment it is the magical landscape that regains its prominence. Within the whole landscape, I was also surprised and delighted to discover apparently fortuitous anamorphic reminders of other Balthus works. The artist spent his last hours in his beloved studio contemplating this work and planning the finishing touches to L'Attente, the last painting he was working on at the time. He was very pleased and proud of both works which can and should be regarded as a crowning achievement" (Encounters: New Art from Old (exhibition catalogue), National Gallery, London, p. 46).

Fig. 1  A photograph of Balthus in the garden of his chateau at Montecalvello in 2000