here , jen george revisits balthus ’s painting thérèse dreaming .
 
for more than six decades , until his death , in 2001 , at the age of ninety - two , balthus depicted young girls in gamy poses , attributing any perceived eroticism to viewers with unclean minds .
when i went to the metropolitan museum of art this past weekend , i was shocked to see a painting that depicts a young girl in a sexually suggestive pose .
 
 
balthus if current trends continue , in just a few new yorkers launched a petition demanding that the metropolitan museum of art remove a 1938 painting of a young woman with her underwear exposed .
the piece , “ thérèse dreaming ” by the french painter balthus — an anti - modernist beloved of modernists , including picasso — charms the eye and rattles thought .
maybe she art bizarre balthus show reveals artist 's fixation with cats and young girls 3 5 stars more character study than retrospective , the met 's provocative new balthus exhibition has an unsettling undertone • click here for more images from the balthus show more character study than retrospective , the met 's provocative new balthus exhibition has an unsettling undertone thérèse dreaming by balthus , 1938 .