Balthus. /Бальтюс./

Balthasar Klossowski (or Kłossowski) de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), best known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist.
He is the second son of painter and art historian, Erich Klossowski (1875-1946), and Elizabeth Dorothea Spiro (1886-1969), called Baladine.
His older brother is the writer and artist Pierre Klossowski (1905-2001).

The Grand Chalet de Rossinière, in Switzerland where the painter lived with his wife and daughter until his death in 2001.


The chalet of Balthus, the painter. SWITZERLAND. Canton of Vaud. Rossiniere.
Today, this extraordinary and timeless place is both the family residence, as well as home to the Balthus Foundation.


Balthus with his daughter Harumi at Rossinière, 2000. SWITZERLAND. Canton of Vaud.
Swiss-born jewelry designer Harumi Klossowska—daughter to late Polish-French painter Balthus and Japanese artist Setsuko Ideta.


Countess Setsuko Klossowski de Rola, widow of Balthus.


In 1977, the artist Balthus purchased the Grand Chalet of Rossinière, one of the largest and oldest chalets in Switzerland, dating to 1754. He converted it into his studio and worked there until his death in 2001.
He and his wife, Setsuko Ideta, also a painter, have lived here for 20 years. Before that he lived in grand and conspicuously remote houses in France and Italy.


Comtesse Setsuko Klossowska de Rola; Rossinière; October 2004. Widow of Balthus.


Balthus with Setsuko, his second wife, Japanese.
In 1937 he married Antoinette de Watteville, who was from an old and influential aristocratic family from Bern. He had met her as early as 1924, and she was the model for the aforementioned La Toilette and for a series of portraits. Balthus had two children from this marriage, Thaddeus and Stanislas (Stash) Klossowski, who recently published books on their father, including the letters by their parents.
Balthus and Antoinette separated in 1947, he moving to Paris and she to Lausanne. He had a series of mistresses from among his models for some years.
In 1962, in a temple in Kyoto, he met Setsuko Ikeda, the second great love of his life; he was 54 and she, 19. She was a modern girl from an old family, a French student. She became his model within days and then his mistress, moving into his Villa Medici a few months later. They were married in a Shinto ceremony in Tokyo in 1967 after he had completed his divorce from Antoinette, with whom he maintained a deep friendship. He and Setsuko had one daughter, Harumi in 1973, now a jewelry designer. They had a son in 1969, Junio, who died of a rare genetic disease when he was two. Setsuko then had a miscarriage at five months pregnancy.

1. Balthus, Self-portrait (1940). 2. Antoinette de Watteville and Balthus, ca. 1937.

Painter Balthus in his atelier, 1998 -by Alvaro Canovas.


Cour de Rohan, Balthus, studio of the French artist Balthus in Paris.


Cour de Rohan, Balthus, studio of the French artist Balthus in Paris. The onetime home of the artist Balthus.
The onetime studio of the French artist Balthus in Paris’s Saint-Germain-des-Pres area is listing for roughly $9 million, according to listing agent Xavier Attal.
Located on the Cour de Rohan, a secluded courtyard that dates back to the 16th century, the home measures about 3,068 square feet and has four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The current owner, a Frenchman who now lives in New York, bought the property around 1999, said Mr. Attal.
Mr. Attal said the owner, who he declined to identify, renovated the home to create a mix between a New York loft and the French countryside.
Balthasar Klossowski, better known as the artist Balthus, is well-known for his controversial paintings of young women. He died in 2001 at the age of 92.



Located on the Cour de Rohan, a secluded courtyard that dates back to the 16th century, the home measures about 3,068 square feet and has four bedrooms and four bathrooms.



The owner, who he declined to identify, renovated the home to create a mix between a New York loft and the French countryside.


Cour de Rohan, Balthus, studio of the French artist Balthus in Paris. A view of the renovated interior.


Cour de Rohan, Balthus, studio of the French artist Balthus in Paris. A view of the renovated interior.


Cour de Rohan, Balthus, studio of the French artist Balthus in Paris. A view of the renovated interior.


Rainer Maria Rilke, who was the lover of the artist's mother - Baladine Klossowska. Rilke wrote that Balthus should not mourn his beloved Mitsou, because he now carries the cat within. Rilke also gave Balthus the name by which he is known; he was born Balthasar Klossowski. The photo below is from 1922; it shows a young Balthus surrounded by the poet and his mother.


Joseph Caezza - Interview with Stanislas Klossowski de Rola:
"Stanislas Klossowski de Rola", the name invokes awe among all students of alchemical wisdom. A true son of Hermes, he carries himself with the aristocratic grace and charming innocence of Antoine de Saint Exupery's "Little Prince". He is the son of Count Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, acclaimed by some as one of the greatest living painters of this century. Stanislas inspired a reevaluation of the alchemical tradition with his two books, Alchemy :The Secret Art and The Golden Game. He was a close personal friend to Eugene Caneliet, the direct disciple of the legendary adept, Fulcanelli. Stanislas lived for many years in Sri Lanka and was personally acquainted with the renowned authority on Eastern wisdom, Lama Anagarika Govinda. More recently he has been involved with the motion picture industry and lives with his son in Malibu, California. During the recent Bohemian Golden Salamander tour of September 1998, the hermeticist, D.K., acted as my agent and at great personal sacrifice followed Stanislas from Prague to a hunting lodge just outside the ancient mining village of Kutna Hora. There he engaged this revered author with my questions."

Balthus, at 88, Still a Man of Mystery - NYTimes.com:
"I really don't understand why people see the paintings of girls as Lolitas," he volunteers, to get the issue out of the way. "You know why I paint little girls? Because women, even my own daughter, already belong to this present world, to fashion. Little girls are the only creatures today who can be little Poussins." By Poussins, of course, he means figures in the works of Poussin: pure and timeless.

"My little model is absolutely untouchable to me," he insists. "Some American journalist said he found my work pornographic. What does he mean? Everything now is pornographic. Advertising is pornographic. You see a young woman putting on some beauty product who looks like she's having an orgasm. I've never made anything pornographic." He pauses. "Except perhaps 'The Guitar Lesson.'"