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Sto caricando le informazioni... Balthus : [cat. exp., Paris, Centre Pompidou, 5 nov 1983 - 23 janvier 1984; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 21 fév - 13 mai 1984]di Sabine Rewald, Balthus,, Centre Georges Pompidou, Gérard Régnier (A cura di)
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51 Color Plates, 151 black and white illustrations, includes a chronology, a list of exhibitions, and a bibliography. The catalogue, written by Sabine Rewald, a specialist in the artist's work, is a major contribution to the study of Balthus. The author presents new biographical information about this reclusive artist, and her astute assessment of the works that influenced hime gives the reader a new sense of the richness and amibuity of Balthus's world. This critical study of the life and work of the French artist Balthus serves as the catalogue of an exhibition held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)759.4The arts Painting History, geographic treatment, biography France and regionClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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Great art pushes boundaries, is provocative, and causes introspection. Balthus clearly does all that, and with skill as a painter. Is he to be praised as a great artist, or condemned as one encouraging pedophilia, if not (possibly) practicing it? Is there a message or statement he’s making in these images? In ‘The Street’ (1933), with the original version having the man’s hand between the girl’s legs (he altered it at the owner’s request 20 years later), is his point that while this violence is happening to a girl, the rest of the world is disinterested, their heads turned and going about their business? In ‘Girl With a Cat’ (1937), are Therese’s eyes telling us that if we’re thinking dirty thoughts while gazing upon her with our adult eyes, we’re the ones who are perverts? Or are those thoughts a reflection of the discomfort we feel as adults when girls occasionally reveal themselves, innocently, or later, when they inevitably do begin to blossom, but are still children?
The book itself, published after a 1984 exhibition in Paris and New York and written by Sabine Rewald, an expert in Balthus’s work, is well formatted, has a great introduction, 51 full page color reproductions, and 151 black and white illustrations. It provides insightful commentary, and does a great job showing earlier artwork that inspired specific pieces by Balzac, as well as his own sketches and studies. It was interesting to find that Rainer Maria Rilke had been his mother’s lover, and encouraged his art at an early age. In reviewing and rating the book, how much should this weigh in, versus some of the content?
Balthus’s position that the paintings were not meant to be erotic is laughable. Some apologists point out that at the start of his career, the French age of consent was 13 – does this excuse him somewhat, or does it illustrate how hopelessly wrong he was, that this material does not stand the test of time, especially as we’re more sensitized to the violence against women and girls in society?
Answers to these questions are hard to come by. At first I thought that Rewald didn’t go far enough to explain Balthus’s rationale, or to provide a judgment of him one way or another. However, I came to realize that that in itself was the right answer – for art is in the eye of the beholder, and it’s up to the viewer, or reader, to judge. And as an aside, Rewald continued to write about Balthus after 1984, and this excellent article from 1998 expands on her themes, as well as provides additional examples of the treatment of puberty in art (from Rops, Schiele, Munch, Dix, Kirchner, and others).
www.metmuseum.org/pubs/journals/1/pdf/1513021.pdf.bannered.pdf
As for the art itself, my favorites in this collection:
Andre Derain (1936)
Therese (1938) … a more subtle version
The Cherry Tree (1940)
The Game of Patience (1943)
Nude with Cat (1949)
The Room (1952-54) … wow, on the scorn and judgment in the look on the little girl!
The Dream I (1955)
The Turkish Room (1963) … he would marry the model, Setsuko, despite a 35 year age gap
Katia Reading (1968-76)
It’s not for everyone, and it’s art that you may be seriously conflicted by, but if Balthus is an artist you’re interested in trying to fathom, this would be a good book to start with. ( )