SURROUNDING the elegant figure of the French painter who calls himself Balthus, there has always been an aura of mystery. He rarely exhibits his work, and he himself lives in virtual seclusion in a gloomy medieval chateau near Autun. He has shunned all of the schools that in successive waves have swept over Paris, but he can claim among his fervent admirers some of the most prestigious names in French art. One admirer is Pablo Picasso, who has a prized Balthus painting of two children in his Vallauris villa. Another is Minister of Culture André Malraux, who three months ago flabbergasted...
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