PDF The Daily Adventures of Mixerman by Mixerman in Arts-Photography

Review

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Colored by personal dislikeBy meadowreaderWeber clearly despises Balthus; finding him to be a self-denying Jew (that seems to be Balthus original sin); a control freak; manipulative; despotic; self-aggrandizing; and virtually a pathological liar to boot. Weber thinks some of this can be understood with the help of amateur psychoanalysis; which at various points he is only too happy to provide.The book contains a lot of information about Balthuss life and his art; but assertions and interpretations that otherwise might seem to be true; fair; and insightful -- and may; in fact; be all of those things -- are tainted by the ever-present noise of an axe being ground backstage. The book made me want to see a second opinion from somebody who actually found something; anything; to like about Balthus as a person.21 of 25 people found the following review helpful. No perspective or sense of scaleBy Seigo TanakaBalthus; The Count of Rola; The King of Cats; part ethnically Jewish Roman Catholic; self-invented; self-taught; king of the figurative painters of the last century; deserved a better biographer than this.Nicholas Fox Weber has very strong opinions about his subject. Unfortunately; his opinions take on the form of judgment and one can only have wished that he would have had the intelligence to bow out and leave the task to someone who could temper their passion with objectivity.Balthus wants to remain an enigma. This is well known. To assume he would be the one to gain the artists full trust and candor was hubris on Webers part. Of course; Balthus reinvented past posed problems to the author but as he points out in his Afterword; he was forewarned. Instead of being persistent; even confrontational; Weber wimps out. He gives up. He proclaims Balthus a hopeless; self-deluded; pathological liar. And so; he relies almost exclusively on second- and third-hand accounts including those from excommunicated friends whose motives are questionable. Even worse; he stands in for the artist; assuming he knows what the artists would have to say about his observations and gathered conflicting facts.Webers frustration is visible on every page-he takes it out on his subject. Like an adolescent discovering the fallibility of an adored parent; Weber magnifies the flaws and uses every opportunity to illustrate them. One senses the author; feeling challenged; is on a mission to strip the artist bare and then mockingly point out his shortcomings. It is not a question as to whether all accusations may be true; Weber makes some convincing arguments (as well as some amazing assumptions). But the tone is adversarial and without compassion; sense of proportion; and sometimes simple decency. (When Weber discovers that Balthus two-year-old son died from Tay Sachs disease; he holds the fact up as proof of Balthus denied Jewish heritage and some kind of divine justice. Its absolutely horrifying.)Weber lets us know that he is not above the vain snobbery he attributes to his subject; when in the last chapter he waxes rhapsodic when Balthus dotes over his two young daughters. But then; in the Afterword; he accuses the same man of being pedophiliac when he dotes over another adolescent; his latest model Anna Valli; in a photo shoot. Like some beauty pageant stage-father he comments on Anna as being dressed "too sexy" a "knowing Lolita... delighting in her stardom." Catty and jealous beyond belief.Fortunately; the simple facts of the artists life are fascinating enough; the anecdotes from his friends and enemies; colorful and sometimes insightful. I do care what these players think about this man. I dont care what Mr. Weber thinks about him one whit.12 of 16 people found the following review helpful. The Weber CaseBy Anatole UpartThis book has disappointed me greatly.To all the negative reviews displayed here I can only add more... Its apparently well researched subject is just a cover-up for making yet another buck; using an artist who is lesser known; often misunderstood and provocative. Any biography of Balthus would have been appreciated at the time of the artists old age and the obviously quick aproach of death; and people like Mr. Weber; unfortunately; quite often are the first to write in such moments. This is not a book about Balthus or his life or his art; it is about quickly making a name for himself and some money off Balthus; in the name of his art; when it was still possible. Inaccessability of Balthus the person has allowed only a small circle of friends; family members; and patrons to benefit financially; and socially from Balthuss name and Art; however Mr.Weber; a parvenue as he is; craved for some of it too. The result - is this book; a book about infiltrating oneself ( or trying to) into a privileged society of artists; aristocrats; wealthy collectors; celebs etc. and then - just " telling all" about who they really are: pretenders; liers; perverts and above all - anti-Semites... I only regret three thing about this book: That I have spent money to buy it ( so contributing to the cause of Mr.Weber); that I have read this book ; that we have all here read this book. PS: To my knowledge; there is not a single Novgorod near Pinsk; or anywhere in Belarus; and Mr.Weber was probably alluding to Novogrudok ( Nowogrodek; Navahrudak) about 125km from Minsk. (Weber might have thought that throwing in some obscure town names from Eastern Europe and ambelishing that book with them would make his "research" look more professional)