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拍品專文
This drawing by Rodolphe Bresdin is dated 1864, at which point the artist was in Bordeaux, a few months before he met his future pupil Odilon Redon (1840-1916). It is representative of the miniaturist taste of the artist as well as of his etching-like drawing style.
According to Préaud (M. Préaud, Rodolphe Bresdin, 1822-1885: Robinson graveur, Paris, 2000, p.20), drawings by Bresdin are relatively rare when compared with the artistic output of his contemporaries. His œuvre can be divided into two distinct categories: elaborate drawings made on fine ivory-coloured paper, typically signed and dated, and intended for exhibitions and sale; and working sketches, made for the artist's own reference. The present sheet belongs to the first - and rarer - category. Bresdin also executed a copy of it on tracing paper (RISD Museum, Providence, inv. no. 35.267, see: D. Van Gelder, op. cit., p.35, fig.24) to keep a reference of the composition after selling it.
This sheet perfectly reflects the style and working process of Bresdin. As some contemporaries noted, the artist was not used to draw after nature. He preferred inventions, a predilection which explains the fantastic atmosphere and the strangeness that infuse his work. A master printmaker, Bresdin played with the confusion between techniques and media: this is not only visible in the highly refined pen work which rivals engraved lines, but also in the way he layered the shadows with pen strokes, reminiscent of etchings.
Mountain landscape and rocks have kept the attention of Bresdin during all his career. More specifically, Bresdin drew several battle scenes in mountains and rocky landscape (British Museum, London, inv. no. 1929,0608.1; Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, inv. no. 1949.77) in the early 1860’s. Bresdin's art is strongly inspired by the northern Renaissance, both in the style and in the subjects chosen by the artist. The present sheet can be related to The Suicide of Saul of 1562 by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (circa 1525-1569), which features a battle scene in a mountain landscape (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, inv. no. GG1011). Bresdin seems to have been fascinated by the moving mass of riders and spades and by the anonymous miniature figures depicted from the far. Another inspiration for this drawing is the work of Joachim Patinier (circa 1483-1524), active at the beginning of the 16th century and mostly known for his fantastical rocky landscapes. With the vertiginous rock that climbs to the sky at the center of the composition, Bresdin seems to have drawn the lessons from the Flemish master in a very convincing way.
Since its creation, the drawing seems to have left Bordeaux only in 2005. During that time, it has been part of the collection of Maurice Méaudre de Lapouyade (1870-1949), a local scholar who dedicated several publications to the history of his home town and region. Later it appears in the collection of Pierre Lafargue, a doctor and major collector of artworks by Odilon Redon and Rodolphe Bresdin.
According to Préaud (M. Préaud, Rodolphe Bresdin, 1822-1885: Robinson graveur, Paris, 2000, p.20), drawings by Bresdin are relatively rare when compared with the artistic output of his contemporaries. His œuvre can be divided into two distinct categories: elaborate drawings made on fine ivory-coloured paper, typically signed and dated, and intended for exhibitions and sale; and working sketches, made for the artist's own reference. The present sheet belongs to the first - and rarer - category. Bresdin also executed a copy of it on tracing paper (RISD Museum, Providence, inv. no. 35.267, see: D. Van Gelder, op. cit., p.35, fig.24) to keep a reference of the composition after selling it.
This sheet perfectly reflects the style and working process of Bresdin. As some contemporaries noted, the artist was not used to draw after nature. He preferred inventions, a predilection which explains the fantastic atmosphere and the strangeness that infuse his work. A master printmaker, Bresdin played with the confusion between techniques and media: this is not only visible in the highly refined pen work which rivals engraved lines, but also in the way he layered the shadows with pen strokes, reminiscent of etchings.
Mountain landscape and rocks have kept the attention of Bresdin during all his career. More specifically, Bresdin drew several battle scenes in mountains and rocky landscape (British Museum, London, inv. no. 1929,0608.1; Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, inv. no. 1949.77) in the early 1860’s. Bresdin's art is strongly inspired by the northern Renaissance, both in the style and in the subjects chosen by the artist. The present sheet can be related to The Suicide of Saul of 1562 by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (circa 1525-1569), which features a battle scene in a mountain landscape (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, inv. no. GG1011). Bresdin seems to have been fascinated by the moving mass of riders and spades and by the anonymous miniature figures depicted from the far. Another inspiration for this drawing is the work of Joachim Patinier (circa 1483-1524), active at the beginning of the 16th century and mostly known for his fantastical rocky landscapes. With the vertiginous rock that climbs to the sky at the center of the composition, Bresdin seems to have drawn the lessons from the Flemish master in a very convincing way.
Since its creation, the drawing seems to have left Bordeaux only in 2005. During that time, it has been part of the collection of Maurice Méaudre de Lapouyade (1870-1949), a local scholar who dedicated several publications to the history of his home town and region. Later it appears in the collection of Pierre Lafargue, a doctor and major collector of artworks by Odilon Redon and Rodolphe Bresdin.