By 1935, when Marguerite Caetani, Princess Bassiano, commissioned this portrait of her daughter Lelia, Balthus had grown tired and resentful of the painting commissions that were his only source of income. Depicted in the elegant Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Lelia is unfashionably dressed and appears considerately older than her twenty-two years. Her limbs are elongated and she dwarfs her surroundings, awkwardly towering over the trees and lamppost. Balthus later called his stylized, unflattering, and even bizarre portraits his "monsters."
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Inscription: Signed, dated, and inscribed (on reverse): Lelia/ Caetani Balthus 1935
Marguerite Chapin Caetani, Princess Bassano, Paris (commissioned from the artist in 1935–d. 1963); her daughter, Lelia Caetani, Rome (1963–d. 1977); her husband, The Honorable Hubert Howard, Rome (1977–86; his sale, Sotheby's, New York, November 18, 1986, no. 47, sold to Matisse); Pierre Matisse, New York (1986–d. 1989); his widow, Maria-Gaetana Matisse, née von Spreti, New York (1989–d. 2001; sale, Christie's, New York, May 8, 1991, no. 30, bought in); Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Foundation, New York (2002–15; jointly with MMA, 2011–15; their gift to MMA)
New York. Pierre Matisse Gallery. "Balthus Paintings," March 21–April 16, 1938, no. 5 or no. 6.
Tokyo Station Gallery. "Balthus," November 3, 1993–January 30, 1994, no. 3.
Hong Kong Museum of Art. "Balthus," May 5–June 4, 1995, no. 3.
Palace Museum, Beijing. "Balthus," June 24–July 28, 1995, no. 3.
Taipei Fine Arts Museum. "Balthus," August 12–October 1, 1995, no. 3.
Madrid. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. "Balthus," January 30–April 1, 1996, unnumbered cat.
Paris. Mona Bismarck Foundation. "Pierre Matisse, passeur passionné: Un marchand d'art et ses artistes," October 20, 2005–January 14, 2006, unnumbered cat. (p. 92).
Museo Picasso Málaga. "La Colección Pierre y Maria-Gaetana Matisse en The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York," March 26–June 24, 2007, no. 2.
Cologne. Museum Ludwig. "Balthus: Aufgehobene Zeit. Gemälde and Zeichnungen 1932–1960 / Balthus: Time Suspended. Paintings and Drawings 1932–1960," August 18–November 4, 2007, no. 6.
Rome. Scuderie del Quirinale. "Balthus," October 24, 2015–January 31, 2016, unnumbered cat. (p. 39; as "Lelia Caetani [Jeune femme dans un parc]").
Vienna. Kunstforum Wien. "Balthus: Balthasar Klossowski de Rola," February 24–June 19, 2016, unnumbered cat. (p. 97; as "Lelia Caetani [Junge Frau in einem Garten]").
Sabine Rewald. Balthus. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1984, pp. 34, 36, fig. 55.
Stanislas Klossowski de Rola. Balthus. New York, 1996, p. 154, pl. 14.
Virginie Monnier in Virginie Monnier and Jean Clair. Balthus: Catalogue Raisonné of the Complete Works. Paris, 1999, p. 125, no. P82, ill., as "Lelia Caetani (Jeune femme dans un parc)".
Sabine Rewald. Balthus: Time Suspended. Paintings and Drawings 1932–1960. Exh. cat., Museum Ludwig, Cologne. Munich, 2007, pp. 52–53, 158, no. 6, ill. (color).
Sabine Rewald. The American Matisse: The Dealer, His Artists, His Collection. The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection. New York, 2009, pp. 28–29, 149, ill.
Camille Viéville. Balthus et le portrait. Paris, 2011, p. 116, fig. 98 (color), calls it "Lelia Caetani (Jeune femme dans un parc)".
Camille Viéville inBalthus. Exh. cat., Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome. Verona, 2015, pp. 65, 275, ill. p. 39 (color).
Camille Viéville inBalthus: Balthasar Klossowski de Rola. Ed. Evelyn Benesch and Cécile Debray. Exh. cat., Kunstforum Wien. Vienna, 2016, pp. 89, 243, ill. p. 97 (color).
Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski) (French, Paris 1908–2001 Rossinière)
1935
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