Odilon Redon

Jos Hessel, Paris
César de Hauke, New York
Martin A. Ryerson, Chicago (acquired circa 1930)
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (a gift of the above in 1937 and sold: Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, May 4, 1944, lot 32)
Sam Salz, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Joseph H. Hirshhorn, New York (acquired from the above and sold: Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., November 10, 1948, lot 52)
Acquired at the above sale 

Paris, Galerie d'art des éditions G. Crès & Cie, Indépendants, 1919-20, no. 42
Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of Paintings, Pastels and Drawings by Odilon Redon, 1840-1916, 1928-29, no. 22
New York, Museum of Modern Art, Tenth Loan Exhibition: Lautrec, Redon, 1931, no. 105

Louise G. Cann, "The Metaphor of Redon" in International Studio, 1923, illustrated p. 102
Klaus Berger, "The Pastels of Odilon Redon" in College Art Journal, 1956, illustrated p. 30
Klaus Berger, Odilon Redon: Fantasy and Colour, London, 1964, no. 512
Alec Wildenstein, Odilon Redon, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint et dessiné, Portraits et figures, vol. I, Paris, 1992, no. 327, illustrated p. 135

This work is in very good condition. Executed on buff paper. The medium is bright and fresh and well preserved. There are artist's pinholes at the upper right and upper left corners.The sheet does not appear to have been laid down but it attached a backing board along the periphery apart from the lower left corner and upper right edge. There is a vertical tear to the paper along the lower edge, 1/3 of the way in from the left. There is an additional tear to the paper approximately 1 1/2 inches long along the upper right edge. Otherwise fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A pensive young woman, leaning toward a bouquet of flowers and framed by a window or an arch, was a theme upon which Redon would create variations throughout much of his career. These pastels are not necessarily portraits, but rather meditations on concepts that are only eternal in dreams. Fecondité: Femme dans les fleurs is an exquisite example of this preoccupation with spirituality, fertility and beauty. Beginning in 1900, Redon began to move away from the fantastic and dark visions of his noirs and lithographs and created some of his most enigmatic and exquisite pastels.

In this pastel, Redon uses a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes to create an otherworldly aura which steeps the work in symbolic meaning. Like his contemporary Paul Gauguin, Redon imbued his works with a spiritual quality, declaring: “He who believes that the aim of art is to reproduce nature will paint nothing lasting: for nature is alive, but she has no intelligence. In a work of art, thought must complement and replace life; otherwise you will only see a physical work that has no soul” (quoted in Richard Hobbs, Odilon Redon, London, 1977, p. 152).

The figure itself verges on androgyny, resisting common assumptions made with depictions of fertility. As explained by Redon scholar Dario Gamboni, this work is “without clearly determinable gender, yet tending toward the female, with regular but hard features, framed by a veil or hair and a collar, slightly inclined and with eyes either closed or gazing downward, it resists identification but conveys at the same time the impression of a superior spiritual being that is sufficient unto itself and may even feel sympathy for normal humanity. Since the appearance in 1886 of Light Profile, a lithograph based on a charcoal drawing entitled The Fairy and executed four years earlier, Redon’s fame was based in part on precisely such figures” (Dario Gamboni in As in a Dream, Odilon Redon (exhibition catalogue), Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, 2007, pp. 126-27). The archway, in this case created by interlacing branches, symbolizes threshold between the terrestrial and the celestial.

Redon proved to be an inspiration for many younger artists, including the Nabis group, Henri Matisse and even Marcel Duchamp. Richard Hobbs discusses the interest in Redon shown by the Nabis: “What the Nabis actually so admired in Redon was not only the technical quality of his works but also his ability to suggest the mysterious and the spiritual. Pierre Bonnard later summed this up succinctly: 'What strikes me most in his work is the coming together of two almost opposite qualities: very pure plastic substance and very mysterious expression. Our whole generation is under his charm and benefits from his advice'" (Richard Hobbs, ibid., p. 84). After his revolutionary showing of Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 at the 1913 Armory Show (where 38 of Redon’s works were also exhibited), Marcel Duchamp was asked whether his art or that of his contemporaries was derived from the legacy of Cézanne. He replied, "I am sure that most of my friends would say so and I know that [Cézanne] is a great man. Nevertheless, if I am to tell what my own point of departure has been, I should say that it was the art of Odilon Redon” (quoted in John Rewald, “Odilon Redon,” in Odilon Redon, Gustave Moreau, Rodolphe Bresdin (exhibition catalogue), Museum of Modern Art, New York & Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1961-62, p. 44).