On the occasion of the retrospective exhibition of Balthus that the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza is hosting, Tyto Alba traces in vignettes the path of the great French painter Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (1908-2001), known as Balthus, undoubtedly one of the most singular and enigmatic painters of his time. A friend of Picasso, Artaud and Giacometti, Balthus followed a path that was virtually contrary to the development of the avant-garde movements. In his detachment from modernity, which could be described as "postmodern", Balthus developed a personal and unique form of art, a figurative style far removed from any label, with the light of youth at the centre of his work.
Tyto Alba, the author of Life. A Story of Carles Casagemas and Pablo Picasso (Astiberri, 2016) and Fellini in Rome (Astiberri, 2017), follows the path of the French painter, whose varied and ambiguous work, which mixes mystery with reality and eroticism with innocence, is as admired as it is rejected. Balthus said: "I see adolescence as a symbol. I could never paint a woman. The beauty of the adolescent is more interesting. The adolescent embodies the future, the being before it transforms into perfect beauty. A woman has already found her place in the world; an adolescent, no. A woman's body is already complete. The mystery has disappeared."
Script and drawings: Tyto Alba
Spanish
Co-published by Astiberri Editions and the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum
Color. Hardcover.
56 pages. 21 x 27 cm.
ISBN: 9788417575229
