Colette sitting

Balthasar Klossowski (French: [klɔsɔfski]; February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), also known as Balthus (French: [baltys]), was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of young girls, and the dreamlike quality of his imagery.

Balthus rejected the usual conventions of the art world. Insisting that his paintings must be seen rather than read, he resisted attempts to build a biographical profile. Late in life, he was interviewed by neurobiologist Semir Zeki, in Rossinière, Switzerland, and at the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. The interviews were published in 1995 under the title La Quête de l'essentiel. In these conversations, he discussed some of his views on art, painting, and his contemporaries.