Balthus: A Biography by Nicholas Fox Weber is the only major biography currently in print of the artist, born Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, who has a major survey opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this week. First published by Knopf in 1999, the book is being reissued by Dalkey Archive Press on Sept. 25, the same day the exhibition opens, in part, according to John O’Brien, Dalkey’s founder and publisher, to coincide with the Met show (called “Balthus: Cats and Girls”). The Met, despite Dalkey’s supposed efforts, will not be stocking the biography in its bookstore.
