Curtis_O_Baer_2010

40. Odilon Redon French, 1840 – 1916

Study of a Man’s Back and a Melancholy Angel ca. 1860

Pencil on paper 11 3 ⁄ 8 x 8 3 ⁄ 4 Signed lower left

inches ( 29 x 22 . 1 cm)

provenance E. & A. Silberman Gallery, New York; Dr. Paul Weiss, Woodside, New York; New York, sale, Parke-Bernet, May 6 , 1970 , lot 27 ; Collection Curtis O. Baer

exhibitions Atlanta, 1981 , no. 28 ; Atlanta, 1985 , cat. no. 85 , p. 146

This early drawing of a man’s back shows the creative line of this highly original artist whose most important works are on paper. Like his master Bresdin, Redon studied from life only to embellish the work to make it his own. In the Baer drawing, the fig ure’s back muscles are abstracted to highlight their sinuous nature in a style that is almost Cubistic. Below, as an afterthought or a day-dream, Redon draws a melancholic angel, a familiar notation on other drawings of the same period. A drawing titled Le Géant in the collection of the Fogg Art Institute depicts a similar male figure, drawn in a cubistic style and dates from this period. In that drawing the figure is seen standing, wearing a drapery around his groin, and striding across a shal low pool of water.

Odillon Redon, Le Geant . Pencil, 24 . 8 x 28 cm. Signed lower right. Harvard University, Fogg Art Museum, 1929 . 54 v