Odilon Redon (1840-1916)

Souci d'absolu... Philosophe

Details

Odilon Redon (1840-1916)
Souci d'absolu... Philosophe
signed 'Odilon Redon' (lower left)
charcoal on paper laid down on board
17 x 13.7/8in. (43.2 x 35.2cm.)
Executed in 1881

Provenance

Ambroise Vollard, Paris (acquired from the artist, circa 1900)
Jacques Dubourg, Paris
Anon. sale, Htel Drouot, Paris, 20 June 1947, lot 28
Anon. sale, Htel Drouot, Paris, 30 April 1948, lot 48

Literature

S. Sandstrm, Le monde imaginaire d'Odilon, tude iconologique, Lund 1955, fig. 30, p. 41
K. Berger, Odilon Redon, Phantasie und Farbe, Cologne 1964, no. 574 ed. D. Druick, exh. cat. Odilon Redon 1840-1916, The Art Institute of Chicago, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam and Royal Academy of Arts, London, July 1994-May 1995, fig. 8 (illustrated p. 131)
A. Wildenstein, Odilon Redon. Catalogue raisonn de l'oeuvre peint et dessin, vol. II Mythes et lgendes, Paris, 1994, no. 1223 (illustrated p. 253)

Exhibited

Paris, Odilon Redon, 1947, no. 36
Paris, Le Bateau Lavoir, Dessins symbolistes, March-April 1958.

Lot Essay

Souci d'absolu... Philisophe is Redon's original title. This cryptic description is a concise commentary on this enigmatic, symbolically charged composition. Redon's fantastic creatures - the demon, the fire, the golden triangle over a black sun - are subtly related in an unusually complex composition in a departure from the sparer atmospheres normally dominating the noirs.

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