Subject
Re: Balthus and VN
From
Date
Body
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In Strong Opinions, p. 167, (interview by Alfred Appel) Nabokov explains
how he dislikes cubism and contemporary art, but admires Balthus:
"The aspects of Picasso that I emphatically dislike are the sloppy products
of his old age. I also loathe old Matisse. A contemporary artist I do
admire very much, though not only because he paints Lolita-like creatures,
is Balthus".
On the same subject, I recommend the excellent article by Pierre Gault:
GAULT, Pierre. « Between Latency and Knowledge : Figures of Preinitiation
in Nabokov and Balthus », in Critical Angles : European Views of
Contemporary American Literature, Marc Chénetier (ed.), Carbondale &
Edwarsdville : Southern Illinois University Press, 1986, pp. 125-144.
I myself dedicate a subpart of my PhD thesis (in the process of being
written) on the aesthetic parallels between the two artists.
> From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: Re: The Gift/Lolita addendum re: Balthus (fwd) (fwd)
> Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 16:45:39 -0700
>
> EDNOTE. DN replies below. I would mention that my fadinf memory tells me
> that when VN was in Hollywood Billy Wilder showed him some Balthus work.
>
> ---------- Forwarded Message ----------
> Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2004 11:54 PM +0200
> From: nabokov
> To: 'Vladimir Nabokov Forum' <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> Subject: RE: The Gift/Lolita addendum re: Balthus (fwd)
>
>
> Reply to Brian Howell: No, no connections apart from that cover and other
> covers proposed by Penguin, I believe.
>
> Best, DN
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
> Sent: mercredi, 28. juillet 2004 05:35
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: The Gift/Lolita addendum re: Balthus (fwd)
>
>
>
> ------------------- One thing I forgot to mention was how much the passage
> I quoted from _The Gift_ about the German nymph on p. 305 reminds me of
> Balthus. Are there any connections between Balthus and N aside from the
> old Penguin cover for _Lolita_?
>
> Brian Howell
_________________________________________________________________
Bloquez les fenêtres pop-up, c'est gratuit ! http://toolbar.msn.fr
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
In Strong Opinions, p. 167, (interview by Alfred Appel) Nabokov explains
how he dislikes cubism and contemporary art, but admires Balthus:
"The aspects of Picasso that I emphatically dislike are the sloppy products
of his old age. I also loathe old Matisse. A contemporary artist I do
admire very much, though not only because he paints Lolita-like creatures,
is Balthus".
On the same subject, I recommend the excellent article by Pierre Gault:
GAULT, Pierre. « Between Latency and Knowledge : Figures of Preinitiation
in Nabokov and Balthus », in Critical Angles : European Views of
Contemporary American Literature, Marc Chénetier (ed.), Carbondale &
Edwarsdville : Southern Illinois University Press, 1986, pp. 125-144.
I myself dedicate a subpart of my PhD thesis (in the process of being
written) on the aesthetic parallels between the two artists.
> From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: Re: The Gift/Lolita addendum re: Balthus (fwd) (fwd)
> Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 16:45:39 -0700
>
> EDNOTE. DN replies below. I would mention that my fadinf memory tells me
> that when VN was in Hollywood Billy Wilder showed him some Balthus work.
>
> ---------- Forwarded Message ----------
> Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2004 11:54 PM +0200
> From: nabokov
> To: 'Vladimir Nabokov Forum' <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> Subject: RE: The Gift/Lolita addendum re: Balthus (fwd)
>
>
> Reply to Brian Howell: No, no connections apart from that cover and other
> covers proposed by Penguin, I believe.
>
> Best, DN
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
> Sent: mercredi, 28. juillet 2004 05:35
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: The Gift/Lolita addendum re: Balthus (fwd)
>
>
>
> ------------------- One thing I forgot to mention was how much the passage
> I quoted from _The Gift_ about the German nymph on p. 305 reminds me of
> Balthus. Are there any connections between Balthus and N aside from the
> old Penguin cover for _Lolita_?
>
> Brian Howell
_________________________________________________________________
Bloquez les fenêtres pop-up, c'est gratuit ! http://toolbar.msn.fr
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L