Pierre Klossowski (1905–2001) was a significant and influential philosopher, writer, translator and artist who befriended Georges Bataille and formulated an original stance on many theological issues and the philosophy of the Marquis de Sade. His first novel, Roberte, ce soir, appeared in 1954 as a limited edition containing six of his own erotic illustrations, after he rejected drawings by his younger brother, the painter Balthus. Following the encouragement of Robert Lebel, André Masson, and Alberto Giacometti he held his first exhibition in Paris in 1956 and subsequently produced numerous life-size drawings of erotic scenes imbued with mythological, allegorical, and philosophical connotations. By the 1970s, he had won the acclaim of such eminent thinkers as Maurice Blanchot, Michel Butor, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, and Félix Guattari. (German edition ISBN 3-7757-1791-9) Exhibition schedule: Whitechapel Gallery, London, September 20–November 19, 2006 · Museum Ludwig, Cologne, December 21–March 18, 2007 · Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, April 2–June 4, 2007
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