Erich Klossowski

Who was Erich Klossowski?

Erich Klossowski or Kłossowski was a German and Polish-French art historian and a painter, now primarily known as the father of the writer-philosopher- painter and actor Pierre Klossowski and the artist Balthus. He was born in Ragnit, Germany.

He came from a family which supposedly belonged to the former Polish petty nobility, bearing the Rola coat-of-arms and living in the Prussian part of today's Poland. His son Balthus added "de Rola" to his family name.

Erich Klossowski wrote one of the early monographs on Honoré Daumier, first published in Munich in 1908 and again in 1914. He married the artist Baladine Klossowska, whom Rainer Maria Rilke called "Merline." Later, the couple moved to Paris.

He died in Sanary-sur-Mer on January 23, 1949.