Balthus - Work, interviews

Mieke Bal's analysis focuses on the mysterious feeling of great reality and great unreality emanating from the artist's canvases. This is, in her opinion, the quintessence of Balthusian work: it invites the viewer to penetrate it and at the same time rejects him. We access a very personal world, but we are not told what to see. Consequently, the works act against all assumptions of representation and appropriation. The tool of this performance, figuration, is essential for the desired effect. Although the figurative element is supposedly the most direct path to realism, in the case of Balthus this is far from the case. According to the author, the paintings take the observer into a world that we know does not exist. This cunning fictionality makes accusations of erotic appropriation naive and censored. Furthermore, to reduce Balthus' production to painting nude adolescents would be to underestimate the many canvases that do not address this subject at all. Color, space, genres or history are some of the fundamental concepts that the author places at the core of Balthus's work. Author: Mieke Bal Language: Spanish Pages: 160 pp. Dimensions: ‎ 29 x 22.5 cm Publisher: ‎ Polígrafa Editions Binding: Hardcover Conservation: It may show marks and slight damage