Odilon Redon (Bordeaux 1840-1916 Paris)
"Cellule Auriculaire" ["Auricular Cell"]
1893-94
lithograph in black on chine appliqué/chine collé (light weight cream Oriental tissue paper), rolled or laid down on strong (heavy weight) wove paper
image 26,6 x 24,8 cm; sheet 58,4 x 42,8 cm
monogrammed lower right in pencil: "Od.R."
with the blind/dry stamp "L’Estampe originale" (Lugt 819)
Condition: slightly wavy on the right margin, otherwise in good condition.
Provenance: private collection, southern Germany
Catalogue raisonne: Mellerio 126; Donna Stein, Donald H. Karshan, L'Estampe originale: A Catalogue Raisonné (New York: The Museum of Graphic Art, 1970), cat. no. 63.
Published in "L’Estampe Originale," Album II, June 1893, in an edition of 100 prints on chine appliqué.
Publisher: Éditions du Journal des artistes, Paris (André Marty).
Printer: Edward Ancourt, Paris.
Blind embossing by Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier.
Catalogue raisonne: Mellerio 126
Discussion:
“Odilon Redon, whose enigmatic, haunting works exemplify the dreamlike themes and emotional emphasis of Symbolism, produced almost two hundred lithographs. Many of them capture the moody, dark tonalities of his charcoal drawings, which he called noirs. Here, a strange figure in profile, with a curiously enlarged ear—a being possibly inspired by Francisco Goya, whom Redon greatly admired—peers from within a medallion. Auricular Cell was included in The Original Print ["L’Estampe originale"], a series of portfolios of prints by various avant-garde artists published to promote the revival of lithography and highlight its creative impact. All the works in the publication were 'original prints,' a term that became popular during the second half of the nineteenth century to describe multiple, original works of art. Print publishers used it to distinguish artists’ prints, for which an artist creates an original composition, from 'reproductive' prints, which are reproductions of existent works in other mediums.” Brooklyn Museum
"A sinister profile head with a long ear emerging from a circle.” British Museum
