In the second half of the 1930s, Balthus paints a series of portraits of a young girl, Thérèse Blanchard. In the first portraits that Balthus painted of her he focused on her facial expression, the later paintings are characterized by ambiguity: on the one hand, Balthus depicts the innocence of the child, on the other hand he shows Thérèse as adolescent who also has a certain erotic appeal, using poses that can be experience as shocking or objectionable. In this video, Michiko Kono (Associate Curator, Fondation Beyeler) provides us with closer look at this series of paintings and also the controversial discussion that has arisen around these images and its creator (in German language with English subtitles).

An Introduction to the Work of Balthus (5/12). Fondation Beyeler, September 2018.