I'm always fascinated by people whose consummate skill manages to nix out any (or most) questions of dangerous character. Though controversy followed Balthus throughout his long career, we kept looking and marveling at his skills of composition and color, jarred, annoyed and disturbed by his choice of adolescent-girl models ... but still, we looked.
He is both easy and hard to love, but unquestionably interesting to look at. These photos of Balthus were taken at his home, the Chateau de Chassy, in 1956:
(Note the claws.) And with his niece, Frederique Tison:
"When Balthus was 38, he took as his mistress the 16-year-old Laurence Bataille; at 48, he chose his stepniece, Frederique Tison, also 16; at 59, he married Setsuko Ideta, age 25. Weber reports all this and more, even Balthus's seduction of his sons' teenage girlfriends and his crude contention that at 13, a girl was 'an old camel,' past her prime."
here
Yes, it can't be denied; old lech he was.
No defense of his character is possible. It seems inappropriate to say anything about Balthus without acknowledging this.
His taste was particular to the point of crystallization, and he had strong feelings about his surroundings. I searched in vain for images of his renovation of the Villa Medici, undertaken when he was director of the French Academy in Rome; he stripped the rooms to nothing, leaving a barren expanse that resembled the inside of an abandoned seashell. These photos were taken before the Roman years.
At Chateau de Chassy:
"It was often thought that Balthus liked very big houses because he hankered after ostentatious living. But this was not the case. What he liked was very big houses in which he could live almost alone and see no one. If the house was isolated, his happiness was complete."
here
Like so many things, my first exposure to Balthus' work was through the Art Institute of Chicago. Patience, of 1943:
Those stripes! And the way they terminate at the rail is sublime, almost minimal. I love the painting as a whole, but have found this detail enthralling since the age of six. Ditto the wallcovering in Nude Before a Mirror of 1955, in the Metropolitan.
I also like Nude Before a Mirror because it seems to capture a moment of self-recognition more than a moment of voyeurism. In person its surface is matte, even chalky, and seems to glow from within, like alabaster or live flesh. She is effervescent, aging and evaporating before our eyes.
I don't think Damian Hirst is quite there, yet.
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7 comments:
yup that last one is true transcendental beauty. lucky old bob lehman. pervy old balthus!
great excavation of old pics.
why is it that the her hairy legs are the first thing i notice in these stunning photos?
Artist's interiors have always fascinated me. And these are especially interesting because they where not done about the decoration but just the life. I was told that during his time in Rome, when the Villa Medici was being restored, at night Balthus would throw buckets of dirty water to add patine to the facade that looked too new for his taste.
Does anyone know which Life magazine issue the photos are from?
I dunno. I live in England and over here 16 is a legal age for sexual consent. *shrug*
We have a surplus of vaguely boring art blogs, too.
I wouldn't characterize this as an art blog, though I have to admit I don't event know what an art blog would be ... is it like one of those fat, glossy useless book that people put on their coffee tables? In that case, sign me up! And thanks for standing behind your comments and identifying yourself like someone I should respect.
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