Balthus

Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski de Rola; 1908 – 2001) was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his imagery. Balthus's style is primarily classical. Although his technique and compositions were inspired by pre-Renaissance painters, there also are eerie intimations of contemporary surrealists. Painting the figure at a time when figurative art was largely ignored, he is widely recognised as an important 20th-century artist. Balthus's paintings of adolescent girls are controversial and described as "alluring and disturbing". Balthus insisted that his work was not erotic but that it recognised the discomforting facts of children's sexuality.