Balthus chapel inaugurated in Rossinière

A chapel devoted to painter Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, called Balthus, has been inaugurated in the village of Rossinière in western Switzerland.

Inside, visitors will find documents, films and works of the respected but controversial Polish-French artist.

It was in the commune of Rossinière that Balthus, often referred to as the “king of cats”, spent the last 24 years of his life. He died in 2001.

Born in Paris in 1908, he knew many prominent names in the world of European culture, including Federico Fellini, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Alberto Giacometti und Pierre Matisse.

His widow, Countess Setsuko Klossowska de Rola is the president of the Balthus Foundation, which was established in 1998.

Balthus lived in the Grand Chalet in Rossinière, the biggest of its kind in Switzerland and one of the largest wooden dwellings in Europe.

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