Balthus

From the beginning of his long career, Count Balthazar Klossowski de Rola's work was singled out for its enigmatic qualities. Committed to figurative painting even as abstraction dominated the art scene, his dream-like canvases garnered him praise from the Surrealists. As he gradually embarked on new, incendiary subject matter - populating his paintings with intimate images of pre-pubescent girls - Balthus trod a thin line between innocence and prurience, and fast became one of the most controversial of painters.