"BALTHUS LOVED MOZART SO MUCH THAT TO HIM 'MUSIC' WAS MOZART"

(BALTHUS) MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus. Cosi Fan Tutte. New York: Limited Editions Club, [2001]. Square folio (16-1/2 by 17 inches), original green cloth; housed in original clamshell box. $1500.

Signed limited first edition, number 20 of only 300 copies signed on the limitation page by the French artist Balthus, with six watercolors by Balthus, reproduced by Keiji Shinohara with multicolor woodblocks.

In the Afterword by Balthus' widow Setsuko, she writes that "In his later years, Balthus said: 'I would like to paint Mozart's music." Balthus loved Mozart so much that to him 'music' was Mozart. Once incorporated into Mozart's scores, folk songs and traditional music are no longer confined by the boundaries of time or geography. Instead, they begin to reside in the Country of Beauty. Balthus, too, wished to visualize scenes from the ordinary into paintings upon canvases…. In July 1950, Balthus was invited to create sets and costume designs for 'Così Fan Tutte' at the musical festival in Aix-en-Provence. Balthus recalled the opportunity with great tenderness. So much so, that, many years later, after moving to Switzerland, he made numerous inquiries concerning the whereabouts of his stage sets. Unfortunately, Balthus was to be disappointed and this work remains lost." Perhaps appropriately, then, the three CDs included with this volume are of a performance at the Aix-en-Provence festival of July 1957.

Fine condition, in a toned slipcase.