Odilon Redon

Marquis de Gonet, Paris (acquired directly from the artist circa 1908-09)
Private Collection, France (by descent from the above and sold: Christie's, New York, November 11, 1997, lot 137)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Alec Wildenstein, Odilon Redon, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint et dessiné, vol. IV, Paris, 1998, no. 2606, illustrated p. 263

In very good condition. The panel is sound with one 2 inch thin horizontal crack at upper let corner, visible on reverse. A few small losses around perimeter seem inherent to panel. The very thickest areas of pigment have been slightly flattened in a few places, but the surface is otherwise very well preserved. Under UV light: one pindot retouching just below the figures right leg, otherwise fine. The work is painted on the lid of a Chinese tea box, with Chinese characters reading "Good of the tea" inscribed on the reverse.
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.

In the early 1890s, Redon received an increasing amount of attention from collectors and critics, leading to his first one-man show in 1894 at the Galeries Durand-Ruel in Paris. In 1892, the critic Albert Aurier, who first made the argument for the relationship between certain artists and the literary school of Symbolism, wrote of Redon: “We should not forget another artist no less original, idealistic, strange, and terrible—one whose love of dreams and spirituality and lofty contempt for soulless imitation have influenced the budding artists of our day as effectively, though less directly, than those already mentioned. I refer to Odilon Redon” (quoted in Mary Anne Stevens, "The Transformation of the Symbolist Aesthetic" in Odilon Redon, Prince of Dreams, 1840-1916, Chicago, 1995, p. 199). Aurier’s definition of Symbolist art was formulated in opposition to the school of Realism that had previously dominated art criticism, and instead it defined the goal of painting as the communication of an idea rather than a depiction of the world.

Mary Anne Stevens writes, “Underlying the central thesis of Symbolism was the dethroning of external nature as the subject matter of art, and its replacement by the Idea. However, given that the Idea derived from the conceptual rather than from the physical world, it was by definition abstract. The issue for all Symbolists lay in the manner in which the Idea was to be visually actualized” (ibid., p. 206). How, in other words, could "the Idea" be represented without succumbing to the effects of Realism? Thadée Nathanso theorized that Redon achieved the depiction of "the Idea" through a representation of dreams: “The imprecision to which the dream owes its surest charm, how can this be captured within the necessary limits of expression in the visual arts? On the condition, realized [in Redon’s art] that, however far the dream might carry the artist…it will always identify itself through its unique qualities—colors or lines and their combination—in order to make sense” (quoted in ibid., p. 208). It is Redon’s specific handling of the media of pastel and oil, in other words, which allows the artist to follow the path of the dream and capture its essence.

Nathanson’s description of Redon is especially appropriate for the present work, part of a series the artist executed on the theme of a figure facing the viewer with shielded eyes. In the case of La Roue de la fortune, the increasingly abstract forms disseminating away from the figure alludes to Redon’s approach to Symbolism: as the mind relaxes into dreams, an organic energy emerges, producing a vibrant flower of ideas, a process Redon illustrates across the dazzling, highly textured surface.

The reverse of the panel, a tea-box lid, bearing the Chinese characters "Good of the Tea"