Odilon Redon (1840-1916)

Penseur: Homme nu dans un paysage

Details

Odilon Redon (1840-1916)
Penseur: Homme nu dans un paysage
signed and dated lower right 'ODILON REDON 1874'
charcoal on tan paper
13¼ x 11in. (34 x 28cm.)
Drawn in 1874

Provenance

Jules Tannery, Paris (acquired from the artist, possibly in 1874)
M. Tannery (grandson of Jules Tannery, by descent)
Anon. sale, Christie's, London, March 25, 1986, lot 204
Jan Krugier, Geneva (acquired by the present owner, 1991)

Literature

ed. National Museum of Modern Art, Odilon Redon, Tokyo, 1989, (exhibition catalogue), fig. 1 (illustrated, p. 41)
A. Wildenstein, Odilon Redon, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint et dessiné, Paris, 1994, no. 837 (illustrated, p. 47)
ed. D. Druick, Odilon Redon: Prince of Dreams 1840-1946, Chicago, 1995 (The Art Institute exhibition catalogue), fig. 22 (illustrated, p. 84; titled Pensaroso)

Lot Essay

The present drawing is one of only four major drawings Redon executed in 1873-1874. Set in a bleak landscape inspired by his father's estate at Peyrelebade, the heroic male figure recalls the tomb sculptures which Michelangelo carved for the Medici family in San Lorenzo, Florence.

The first owner of the drawing was Jules Tannery, a close friend of the artist, who was elected to the Academie des Sciences in 1907 for his work on elliptical mathematical functions. Together they would frequent the Paris Salon of Madame de Rayssac, and it was among her acquaintances that Redon formed an intimate circle of friends.