A Gustave Flaubert. Six Dessins pour la (Deuxième Série) de la Tentation de Saint-Antoine
Redon, Odilon
Paris. Becquet ... En vente chez Dumont. 1889
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A very scarce complete set of the 'Deuxième Série' of Redon's 'Tentation de Saint-Antoine' issued in 1889 and dedicated by Redon 'A Gustave Flaubert'.
From the edition limited to 60 copies; the plates are printed on Chine collé sur Vélin.
Mellerio gives various sizes for the support sheets for the series (440 x 343 mm; '460 x 360 mm to 510 x 350 mm') and the sheets in the present series also vary. The largest (that for the frontispiece) is larger than Mellerio's largest size (it is 550 x 356 mm) while the smallest in the present series is smaller than his smallest size (360 x 275 mm). These data suggest that the edition was never presented in a uniform format and that variations within the edition do exist.
The plates in this set are as follows:
Frontispice.
1. Saint-Antoine ... à travers ses longs cheveux qui lui couvraient la figure, j'ai cru reconnaitre ammonaria. (Annotated 'A Gustave Flaubert' verso).
2. ... Une longue chrysalide couleur de sang. (Signed at lower right in pencil).
3. La Mort: Mon ironie dépasse toutes les autres! (Annotated 'A Gustave Flaubert' verso).
4. Saint-Antoine: il doit y avoir quelque part des figures primordiales dont les corps ne sont que les images. (Initialled beneath at lower left).
5. Le Sphynx ... mon regard que rien ne peut dévier, demeure tendu a travers les choses sur un horizon inaccessible. La chimère: moi, je suis légère et joyeuse. (Annotated 'A Gustave Flaubert' verso).
6. Les sciabodes: la tête le plus bas possible, c'est le secret du bonheur!
'Flaubert's first magnum opus, retelling the temptations that afflicted Saint Anthony, was completed over twenty-five years before its publication in 1874. The mystical trials were compelling subjects for Redon, who made three sets of illustrations in which he tried to fathom their symbolic content.' (Castleman).
[Mellerio 94 - 100; Manet to Hockney 13; Castleman ].
From the edition limited to 60 copies; the plates are printed on Chine collé sur Vélin.
Mellerio gives various sizes for the support sheets for the series (440 x 343 mm; '460 x 360 mm to 510 x 350 mm') and the sheets in the present series also vary. The largest (that for the frontispiece) is larger than Mellerio's largest size (it is 550 x 356 mm) while the smallest in the present series is smaller than his smallest size (360 x 275 mm). These data suggest that the edition was never presented in a uniform format and that variations within the edition do exist.
The plates in this set are as follows:
Frontispice.
1. Saint-Antoine ... à travers ses longs cheveux qui lui couvraient la figure, j'ai cru reconnaitre ammonaria. (Annotated 'A Gustave Flaubert' verso).
2. ... Une longue chrysalide couleur de sang. (Signed at lower right in pencil).
3. La Mort: Mon ironie dépasse toutes les autres! (Annotated 'A Gustave Flaubert' verso).
4. Saint-Antoine: il doit y avoir quelque part des figures primordiales dont les corps ne sont que les images. (Initialled beneath at lower left).
5. Le Sphynx ... mon regard que rien ne peut dévier, demeure tendu a travers les choses sur un horizon inaccessible. La chimère: moi, je suis légère et joyeuse. (Annotated 'A Gustave Flaubert' verso).
6. Les sciabodes: la tête le plus bas possible, c'est le secret du bonheur!
'Flaubert's first magnum opus, retelling the temptations that afflicted Saint Anthony, was completed over twenty-five years before its publication in 1874. The mystical trials were compelling subjects for Redon, who made three sets of illustrations in which he tried to fathom their symbolic content.' (Castleman).
[Mellerio 94 - 100; Manet to Hockney 13; Castleman ].
[7 unnumbered leaves]. Folio. (c.550 x 360 mm). 7 original monochrome lithographs by Odilon Redon (including the 'frontispice' with title), one signed 'Odilon Redon' and one initialled 'Od R.', all on chine collé on thick white support sheets as issued; various support sheet sizes (see Mellerio). Loose as issued, this copy without the original printed paper wrapper.
#46999
