Odilon Redon. 1840-1916.
Mes baisers ont le gout d'un fruit qui se fondrait dans ton cœur! ... Tu me dédaignes! Adieu! (My kisses have the taste of fruit which would melt in your heart! ... You disdain me! Farewell!) 1896. Lithograph. Mellerio 137.7 3/4 x 6 1/4 (sheet 17 x 13). La Tentation de Saint-Antoine Troisième série. Text by Gustave Flaubert. 24 lithographs in the series, this is plate 4. Proof before the letterpress title, prior to the edition of 50. A rich, tonal impression printed on Chine appliqué mounted on sturdy wove paper. Fine condition apart from a 3/4-inch fold line at the lower sheet edge. Unsigned. $2,000.
Redon depicts the Queen of Sheba. Subtle tonal gradations and fine lines create a delicate and sensual profile, in a manner influenced by Redon's study of the Old Masters in the Louvre, particularly Leonardo da Vinci. Redon wrote of Leonardo that he created 'suggestive art' through 'mysterious plays of shadows and rhythms of lines conceived mentally.' working almost exclusively in charcoal and lithography. He called his visionary works, conceived in shades of black, his noirs. Redon.