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Lot Essay
Mrs Virginie Monnier kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work.
In 1937, Balthus married a young Swiss woman, Antoinette de Watteville, who often posed as a model for his works and whome he fell in love with. She is most prominently represented in his illustrations of Emily Bronte’s book “Wuthering Heights” which he realized at the beginning of the 1930s. At the outbreak of War, the couple left Paris. Balthus worried about his Polish sounding name and did not want to draw attention to his mother’s Jewish origins. The young couple settled in the Bugey Savoyard in the Champrovent farm, which he was familiar with. In 1942-1943 they moved to Switzerland and lived first in Bern, and then in Fribourg. This is where their two sons Stanislas (“Stachou”) and Thaddée were born.
At the end of the War, the household separated but maintained an amicable relationship. Balthus went back to Paris and Antoinette remained in Switzerland; she settled down next to the Leman Lake in the fabulous ‘Fleur d’eau’ mansion. Balthus would regularly visit his sons there and decorated Antoinette’s bedroom where she lived until her death, in 1994. In 1961, the artist was appointed by André Malraux, Minister of the President General de Gaulle, director of the Villa Medici, in Rome, where he lived until 1977.
In 1937, Balthus married a young Swiss woman, Antoinette de Watteville, who often posed as a model for his works and whome he fell in love with. She is most prominently represented in his illustrations of Emily Bronte’s book “Wuthering Heights” which he realized at the beginning of the 1930s. At the outbreak of War, the couple left Paris. Balthus worried about his Polish sounding name and did not want to draw attention to his mother’s Jewish origins. The young couple settled in the Bugey Savoyard in the Champrovent farm, which he was familiar with. In 1942-1943 they moved to Switzerland and lived first in Bern, and then in Fribourg. This is where their two sons Stanislas (“Stachou”) and Thaddée were born.
At the end of the War, the household separated but maintained an amicable relationship. Balthus went back to Paris and Antoinette remained in Switzerland; she settled down next to the Leman Lake in the fabulous ‘Fleur d’eau’ mansion. Balthus would regularly visit his sons there and decorated Antoinette’s bedroom where she lived until her death, in 1994. In 1961, the artist was appointed by André Malraux, Minister of the President General de Gaulle, director of the Villa Medici, in Rome, where he lived until 1977.