Balthus (pseud. of Balthasar Klossowski)

Mitsou: quarante images par Baltusz.  Preface de Rainer Maria Rilke.  Zurich and Leipzig: Rotapfel-Verlag, (1921)



In 4s (9  3/4  x 7  1/2  in.; 248 x 190 mm, uncut).  40 plates after ink drawings by Balthus.  Publsiher's stiff printed wrappers, spine darkened, spine ends chipped, covers with some wear and darkening.

N. Katharina Hennde (signature on half-title) — Duane Michals

Twelve-year-old Balthus makes his debut as an artist.  As a child, Balthus was encouraged to paint by Pierre Bonnard.  It was, however, the poet Raine Maria Rilke, who was romantically involved with the child's mother, who recognized the boy as a prodigy and arranged to have these 40 drawings published and wrote a preface for the book.  It was Rilke who also encouraged young Balthasar to use his nickname "Balthus." 

Mitsou  tells the story in pictures of a boy who finds and then loses a cat.  Throughout his career, cats appeared frequently in Balthus's art, including in his self-portraits. 

A clean, crisp copy of Balthus's first set of published drawings.