Setsuko

Setsuko Klossowska de Rola (b. 1942, Tokyo) is a Japanese artist working across painting, ceramics, bronze, and drawing. She lives and works between Rossinière, Switzerland, and Paris, France.

Deeply rooted in both Eastern and Western artistic traditions, Setsuko's practice explores the intimate relationship between nature, memory, and the poetic qualities of everyday life. Her still lifes, landscapes, interiors, and sculptural works celebrate the quiet vitality of plants, flowers, trees, and domestic spaces, revealing a profound sensitivity to the cycles of growth, transformation, and impermanence. Through luminous gouaches, tactile ceramics, and bronze sculptures, she creates contemplative worlds where natural and manmade forms exist in harmonious dialogue.

After studying at Sophia University in Tokyo, Setsuko settled in Europe in the 1960s, where she began her artistic practice and later lived alongside the painter Balthus, whom she married in 1967. While developing an independent artistic language, she has continued to cultivate a lifelong dialogue between Japanese aesthetics and European modernism. Since 2005, she has served as UNESCO Artist for Peace, recognizing her commitment to cultural exchange, education, and the preservation of artistic heritage. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Gagosian, the Musée national du château de Malmaison, and the Pierre Matisse Gallery.