Balthus at the Met

Originally Posted Friday, September 27, 2013

There is a Balthus show at the Met.  The New York Times gave it a mixed review which I thought interesting.  They liked his earlier work, especially his childhood drawings of his lost cat which is contained in one of the five galleries displaying his work.  Other praise is reserved for his early paintings of adolescent girls and a portrait of Miro with his daughter. 

Only a few paintings in the Met show approach the force of the Miró father-daughter portrait. They are all in the first gallery and portray Thérèse Blanchard, one of the first of Balthus’s young models, imbuing her with a sense of willful defiance and aloofness. Posed in a way that reveals a bit of white panties, Thérèse intimidates, not just for her exquisite, beautifully rendered arms, legs and profile, but because of the inner complexity she projects. (link)

I especially love the portrait of Miro.  It is quite disturbing (link). 

I have been infatuated with Balthus since I first discovered his work in the seventies, partly, I think, because his work was so very difficult to find.  The museums collected him, but they showed only the least controversial works.  I remember going to the Art Institute in Chicago with a good friend and seeing one of the paintings (link) with a friend who was politically liberal but socially conservative.  I called him over to look at the painting which covered a very large wall.  He didn't know what to do.  There we were staring at those white panties with the vivid splash of red, me with delight, him with discomfort.  He got away from the painting as quickly as he could without seeming to.  He was with his new wife, the favorite daughter of an international oil company vice president who had been brought up in a formal family, so to speak.  I think, however, that she would have loved the painting.  I don't remember him bringing her over to see it. 

I checked the weather for NYC and it seems that maybe I should wait a few more weeks to go.  October in New York might be the bromide I need, though sometimes that city can depress me when the sun is not high and bright.  Q, I ask for guidance on this.

The weekend looms large with possibility.  I seem now to mostly squander it.  Whatever, whatever, we shall see.