Balthus Catalogue Raisonne of the Complete Works

by Monnie, Virginie; Clair, Jean

• ISBN13: 9780810963948
• ISBN10: 0810963949
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Summary

Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski de Rola), long considered one of the great figure painters of the twentieth century, has remained one of its most elusive creative spirits. Born into an aristocratic Polish family in 1908, Balthus grew up in the most cosmopolitan and cultivated circles of Geneva, Berlin, and finally Paris, where his artist parents settled in 1924. Attracted at an early age by the restraint and timelessness of the old masters, Balthus studied painting with Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, and Andre Derain. He was also fascinated by the work of the Surrealists, and he began to paint images of young girls in enigmatic settings suffused with an understated eroticism. While his calm, almost architectonic forms are reminiscent of Italian Renaissance art, the strange atmosphere of his paintings conveys a distinctly twentieth-century sensibility. The artist has remained silent on the underlying meanings of his images, and indeed has spent much of his life avoiding attention.Balthus's work was little recognized until the late 1960s, but his remarkable achievement finally received international acclaim in 1983, when a major retrospective exhibition opened at the Musee National d'Art Moderne-Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, and traveled to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the City Museum, Tokyo. Still, the full extent of his output has not been known: nearly 100 paintings and numerous drawings, sketchbooks, and even sculptures have escaped notice. This monumental, lavishly illustrated volume, the outcome of years of study, reveals a surprisingly extensive oeuvre.An introductory essay by Jean Clair, curator of the landmark 1983 exhibition, defines the sometimesunexpected poetic, literary, and philosophical sources of Balthus's early inspiration. Then follows a full catalogue raisonne of Balthus's work by Virginie Monnier, published here in its original French. The catalogue includes all o

Table of Contents

The Hundred-Year Sleep	7	(62)
Jean Clair
Catalogue Raisonne of the Complete Works
Virginie Monnier
Structure of the Catalogue Raisonne	62	(418)
Paintings:
The early years, 1920--1931 (P 1 to P 61)	98	(20)
The pre-war period, 1932--1939 (P 62 to P 123)	118	(20)
The war and the post-war period, 1940--1953 (P 124 to P 221)	138	(26)
Chassy, 1953--1961 (P 222 to P 315)	164	(25)
Rome, 1961--1977 (P 316 to P 335)	189	(6)
Rossiniere, 1977--1997 (P 336 to P 349)	195	(9)
Drawings:
The early years, 1920--1931 (D 350 to D 435)	204	(14)
The pre-war period, 1932--1939 (D 436 to D 478)	218	(8)
The war and the post-war period, 1940--1953 (D 479 to D 722)	226	(40)
Chassy, 1953--1961 (D 723 to D 976)	266	(42)
Rome, 1961--1977 (D 977 to D 1393)	308	(74)
Rossiniere, 1977--1997 (D 1394 to D 1448)	382	(11)
Unidentified drawings (D 1449 to D 1461)	393	(3)
Sketchbooks:
The early years, 1920--1931 (CC 1462 to CC 1466)	396	(14)
The pre-war period, 1932--1939 (CC 1466 bis to CC 1468)	410	(5)
The war and the post-war period, 1940--1953 (CC 1469 to CC 1479)	415	(15)
Chassy, 1953--1961 (CC 1480 to CC 1491)	430	(11)
Rome, 1961--1977 (CC 1492 to CC 1506)	441	(33)
Rossiniere, 1977--1997 (CC 1507 to 1511)	474	(6)
Illustrations for books and literary texts: Mitsou (I 1512 to 1551)	480	(53)
Wuthering Heights (I 1552 to I 1593)	485	(14)
Urne (I 1594 to I 1597)	499	(1)
The Horse and the Wolf (I 1598)	500	(1)
Balzac Seen by Twelve Modern Artists (I 1599, I 1600)	500	(1)
New Fairy Tales (I 1601)	501	(1)
Langue (I 1602, I 1603)	501	(3)
Works for the theater:
As You Like It (T 1604, T 1605)	504	(1)
The Cenci (T 1606 to T 1624)	504	(6)
State of Siege (T 1625 to T 1634)	510	(3)
The Painter and His Model (T 1635 to T 1645)	513	(2)
Cosi fan tutte (T 1646 to T 1705)	515	(13)
The Isle of Goats (T 1706 to T 1708)	528	(1)
Julius Caesar (T 1709 to T 1711)	528	(3)
Puss-in-Boots (T 1712, T 1713)	531	(2)
Doodles and caricatures (Cr 1714 to Cr 1811)	533	(20)
Sculptures (S 1812, S 1813)	553	(11)
Supplement
Paintings	556	(1)
Drawings	557	(1)
Sketchbooks	558	(6)
Annexes
Signatures	564	(2)
Personal Exhibitions	566	(4)
Bibliography	570	(3)
Biographical Data	573	(2)
Photographic Credits	575