Therese Dreaming by Balthus was created in 1938. The painting is in Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The size of the work is 149,8 x 129,5 cm and is made as an oil on canvas.

Balthus’s model, Thérèse Blanchard, appears—as the title of this work suggests—unaware of her surroundings and lost in thought. Blanchard was about twelve or thirteen when the artist painted this canvas. She would figure in at least nine other compositions, either alone or with her cat or her brother. Balthus, like countless modern artists, believed the subject of the child to be a source of raw spirit, not yet molded by societal expectations. Many early twentieth‑century avant‑garde artists, from Paul Gauguin to Edvard Munch to Pablo Picasso, also viewed adolescent sexuality.. Read more in Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About the Artist: Polish-French modern artist Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski de Rola) was born in Paris. In 1926 Balthus visited Florence, where he copied many frescos by the Renaissance master Piero della Francesca. From 1930 to 1931 Balthus served in the French army in Morocco. In 1933 he moved to Paris, taking a studio in the Rue de Furstemberg. Later he would move to another studio at the nearby Cour de Rohan. Read more

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