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Large Green Vase with Mixed Flowers
Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916)
1910–12
Medium/Technique
Pastel on paper
Dimensions
74.3 x 62.2 cm (29 1/4 x 24 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of John T. Spaulding
Accession Number48.591
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPastels
Although Redon worked almost exclusively in black and white until he was fifty years old, he later became a bold and original colorist. He often painted macabre and supernatural subjects, and here a conventional still-life motif appears almost otherworldly, with the vase floating in ambiguous space and the colors more brilliant than any found in nature. Pastel produces deep, radiant hues, and Redon has maximized their intensity by juxtaposing complementary colors (yellow and purple, green and red), so that the flowers fairly glow.
InscriptionsLower left: ODILON REDON
ProvenanceBy 1925 until 1926, Etienne Bignou (dealer, b. 1891 - d. 1950), Paris [see note 1]; 1926, probably sold by Bignou to Alex Reid and Lefèvre, Glasgow and London [see note 2]; 1927, probably sold by Reid and Lefèvre to William Alexander Cargill (d. 1962), Glasgow [see note 3]. 1928, De Hauke and Co., New York; November 12, 1928, sold by De Hauke to John Taylor Spaulding (b. 1870 - d. 1948), Boston [see note 4]; 1948, bequest of John Taylor Spaulding to the MFA.(Accession Date: June 3, 1948)
NOTES:
[1] According to De Hauke and Co. the pastel came "from the collection of M. Etienne Bignou, Paris, 1925.” Bignou lent it to the exhibition “Odilon Redon: Exposition Rétrospective de son Oeuvre” (Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, March 1926), cat. no. 98.
[2] Bignou Gallery and Reid and Lefèvre, Ltd. were closely associated businesses and shared a stock of paintings. Reid and Lefèvre included the pastel in their exhibitions “Paintings and Pastels by Odilon Redon” (Lefèvre Galleries, London, June-July 1926), cat. no. 12 and “A Century of French Painting” (McLellan Galleries, Glasgow, May 1927), cat. no. 43.
[3] According to De Hauke and Co., the pastel came "from the collection of William A. C., Esq., Glasgow." This is almost certainly the collector William Cargill, who bought and sold other paintings through Reid and Lefèvre.
[4] The pastel was included in the exhibition “A Century of French Painting” (M. Knoedler and Co., New York, November 12th-December 8th, 1928), cat. no. 48. Knoedler received a commission from De Hauke when the pastel was sold (M. Knoedler and Co. Records, Getty Provenance Index, [Inventory Cards: Customers Cromwell-Fonda, Item. 100]).
NOTES:
[1] According to De Hauke and Co. the pastel came "from the collection of M. Etienne Bignou, Paris, 1925.” Bignou lent it to the exhibition “Odilon Redon: Exposition Rétrospective de son Oeuvre” (Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, March 1926), cat. no. 98.
[2] Bignou Gallery and Reid and Lefèvre, Ltd. were closely associated businesses and shared a stock of paintings. Reid and Lefèvre included the pastel in their exhibitions “Paintings and Pastels by Odilon Redon” (Lefèvre Galleries, London, June-July 1926), cat. no. 12 and “A Century of French Painting” (McLellan Galleries, Glasgow, May 1927), cat. no. 43.
[3] According to De Hauke and Co., the pastel came "from the collection of William A. C., Esq., Glasgow." This is almost certainly the collector William Cargill, who bought and sold other paintings through Reid and Lefèvre.
[4] The pastel was included in the exhibition “A Century of French Painting” (M. Knoedler and Co., New York, November 12th-December 8th, 1928), cat. no. 48. Knoedler received a commission from De Hauke when the pastel was sold (M. Knoedler and Co. Records, Getty Provenance Index, [Inventory Cards: Customers Cromwell-Fonda, Item. 100]).