Balthus: Drawings And Watercolours
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Good
Few artists of the twentieth century provoke as much fascination and controversy as Balthus — the enigmatic, aristocratic painter who spent decades constructing an air of mystery around himself and his art. Balthus: Drawings and Watercolours, authored by renowned art historian Giovanni Carandente, presents an intimate and revelatory survey of the artist's work on paper, uncovering a side of Balthus rarely afforded such dedicated scholarly attention. With 138 illustrations, including 27 in colour, the volume chronicles the full arc of his draftsmanship — from early preparatory sketches to luminous watercolours — illuminating the meticulous hand behind some of the most arresting figurative paintings of the modern era. Carandente's authoritative text situates Balthus within the broader currents of European modernism while insisting on his resolute independence from any single movement or school. The work argues persuasively that these drawings are not mere preludes to finished canvases, but self-sufficient artistic statements rich with psychological tension and formal rigour. Balthus's quiet, charged interiors and languid figures are rendered here with extraordinary sensitivity, inviting the viewer into a world suspended between innocence and unease. For collectors, scholars, and admirers of figurative art, this volume raises one compelling question: how much can a single line reveal about a painter's most guarded inner world?
Author: Giovanni Carandente
Format: Hardback
Published: 1980, Thames and Hudson
Genre: History of arts
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Good
Few artists of the twentieth century provoke as much fascination and controversy as Balthus — the enigmatic, aristocratic painter who spent decades constructing an air of mystery around himself and his art. Balthus: Drawings and Watercolours, authored by renowned art historian Giovanni Carandente, presents an intimate and revelatory survey of the artist's work on paper, uncovering a side of Balthus rarely afforded such dedicated scholarly attention. With 138 illustrations, including 27 in colour, the volume chronicles the full arc of his draftsmanship — from early preparatory sketches to luminous watercolours — illuminating the meticulous hand behind some of the most arresting figurative paintings of the modern era. Carandente's authoritative text situates Balthus within the broader currents of European modernism while insisting on his resolute independence from any single movement or school. The work argues persuasively that these drawings are not mere preludes to finished canvases, but self-sufficient artistic statements rich with psychological tension and formal rigour. Balthus's quiet, charged interiors and languid figures are rendered here with extraordinary sensitivity, inviting the viewer into a world suspended between innocence and unease. For collectors, scholars, and admirers of figurative art, this volume raises one compelling question: how much can a single line reveal about a painter's most guarded inner world?