Balthus - alias Balthazar Klossowski de Rola - was one of the more controversial painters of the last century. He came from a highly cultivated background and was a friend of Rilke, who wrote a preface for one of Balthus's books of drawings. He was a committed figurative artist and hated abstraction, and was a superb draughtsman of great precision.

His penchant for painting nude adolescent girls - caught in private moments, half-innocent, half-voyeuristic - raised eyebrows. The rigorous composition and slow execution remained unchanged until his death in 2001 (Balthus would happily spend years on a single canvas). He regarded himself as a craftsman - a description he believed applied to too few painters of his century.

In this programme, Balthus was filmed at work in his studio - for the first and only time - at work on his latest paintings. Using intimate interviews with the artist, his family and close friends such as Philippe Noiret and fellow artist Francois Rouan, photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, and unpublished artwork, the documentary highlights Balthus's complex creative process.