Weber, Nicholas Fox — Balthus: A Biography

London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999. First Edition. Hardcover. Size: Large 8vo 9" - 10. Stated First Edition, First Printing, with "1" in "number" line present. "This is the first full-scale biography of one of the most elusive and enigmatic painters of our time -- the self-proclaimed Count Balthus Klossowski de Rola -- whose brilliant, markedly sexualized portraits, especially of young girls, are among the most memorable images in contemporary art. The artist's complexities are clarified and his genius understood in a book that derives its immediacy from the author's long and intense conversations with Balthus himself -- who never previously consented to discuss his life and work with a biographer -- as well as Weber's interviews with the painter's closest associates" (from the publisher's blurb). First published by Knopf in 1999Fine-looking, structurally sound hardcover, little discernible wear, bright interior, unmarked. Bound in gray cloth over boards, sharp and distinct lettering to spine. viii [1], 3-644 pp.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. . . . Fine/Near Fine,