The mountain

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (the USA).

On this monumental canvas, Balthus presented an escape from a busy and populous city to nature. It depicts a real landscape with Mount Niederhorn, near Beatenberg in Switzerland. Seven people enjoy the picturesque landscape but are strangely isolated from each other. This approach to the plot is a constant characteristic of the artist’s paintings. The various poses and actions of the characters – they wander, sit, sleep, etc. – enhance their detachment from each other and visually expand the scale of the near and distant parts of the landscape. The summer landscape with figures is an integral part of a series of four paintings designed to indicate the seasons of the year.