Balthus (1908-2001) is one of the truly enigmatic personalities among the painters of the 20th century. Born Balthazar Klossowski de Rola, he grew up in Berlin, Switzerland and Paris, and later moved back and forth between France, the Far East and Rome. Continually crossing all sorts of borders, he remained an outsider throughout his life. His art was a sensuous and poetical admixture of fairytale, Eros and dreams; it was figurative in an age of abstraction and painted using the techniques of Italian Quattrocento fresco — in other words, at no point did it fit any customary category. This extraordinary illustrated volume is devoted to the early masterpieces and is published on the occasion of Balthus' centenary in February 2008. Sabine Rewald is the author of books on, among others, Caspar David Friedrich, Paul Klee, Max Ernst, and Balthus.