This title features dedicated mailing and e-mail campaign to targeted art related media & organisations. Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (1908-2001) was one of the most acclaimed and influential artists of the 20th century. In his formative years his art was sponsored by, among others, Henri Matisse, and later he was much admired by Picasso. His father was a noted art historian and the family were part of the cultural elite of Paris. Visitors included writers such as Gide and Cocteau, who found inspiration for his novel Les Enfants Terribles (1929) on visits to the family. In 1921 Mitsou , a book which included 40 drawings by Balthus, was published. The story of a young boy and his cat it presaged his life-long fascination with cats. His subsequent paintings frequently depicted young girls in voyeuristic poses, one of the most notorious being The Guitar Lesson (1934), which caused controversy due to its explicit depiction of a girl arched on her back over the lap of her female teacher. This highly illustrated volume is a visual and narrative survey of the Balthus' body of work together with numerous interviews with the artist himself.