Redon, the foremost flower painter of his generation, admired the still lifes of Cézanne and here imitated one quite literally. Temporarily entrusted with Vase of Flowers by its second owner, Andries Bonger, Redon produced this copy. Returning to the artist’s studio to pick up his Cézanne, Bonger is said to have mistaken Redon’s copy for the original, exclaiming, “You are really too nice . . . to have cleaned the picture.” Whether or not the story is true, close examination reveals obvious differences between the two canvases: Cézanne’s brushwork is more angular and expressive, his palette more varied; Redon’s picture is softer and warmer, its flowers described with blurry, feathery strokes. Cézanne invents his forms; Redon imitates them.
Details
- Artist Name: Odilon Redon (French, 1840-1916)
- Title: Vase of Flowers (After Cézanne)
- Date: 1896
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 18-1/4 x 21-3/4 in. (46.4 x 55.2 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation, Gift of Mr. Neison Harris
- Accession Number: M.1973.7.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Ary Leblond (aka Aimé Merlo, 1880-1958), Paris, by 1934 - by inheritance to;
Henriette Merlot Ary-Leblond, Paris, by 1934, until at least 1964.
M. Renevey, Paris (?)
L. Lefebvre-Foinet, Paris, by 14 February 1968, half share with;
Sunion Fine Arts, Vaduz, half share sold back 7 November 1968.
[E. J. van Wisselingh & Co., Amsterdam, stock no. S8702, in 1967, sold 1970 to];
Neison Harris, Northbrook, Illinois, gift 1973 to;
Norton Simon Art Foundation (sale, New York, Christie’s, 19 May 1982, lot 23, ill., unsold and returned to);
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
D'après les maîtres
- Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, 1910 to 1910
Redon
- Paris, Petit Palais, 1934 to 1934
Nature mortes françaises du XVIIe siècle a nos jours
- Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 1951 to 1951
Odilon Redon
- The Hague, Gemeentemuseum, 1957-05-03 to 1957-06-23
Gauguin et ses amis. Exposition organisé par l'Association Paul Gauguin
- Pont-Aven, Hôtel de Ville, 1961-08-08 to 1961-09-14
Three Centuries of French Art: Selections from The Norton Simon, Inc. Museum of Art and the Norton Simon Foundation_2
- California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1974-10-19 to 1976-06-15
Under the Influence: Art-Inspired Art
- Norton Simon Museum, 2008-10-17 to 2009-03-02
- Rewald, John, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, no. 1054 pp. 96-97
- Letters à Odilon Redon, pp. 306-307
- Lynes, Russell, Architectural Digest, pp. 24-30
- Benjamin, Roger, Art History, pp. 191-192
- Homburg, Cornelia, Simiolus, n. 52, fig. 7 pp. 135, 136
- Rewald, John, The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: A Catalogue Raisonné, p. 319
- Bacou, Roseline, Odilon Redon, 1956, p. 176
- Berger, Klaus, Odilon Redon: Phantasie und Farbe, 1964, no. 260
- Berger, Klaus, Odilon Redon: Fantasy and Colour, 1964, no. 260
- Moueix, Jean-François, Un amateur d'art éclairé à Bordeaux: Gabriel Frizeau, 1870-1938, 1969, pp. 89-90
- Rewald, John, Studies in Post-Impressionism, 1986, n. 37 pp. 229 , 242-243
- Wildenstein, Alec, Odilon Redon: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint et dessiné, 1992, no. 2042 p. 45
- Homburg, Cornelia, The Copy Turns Original: Vincent van Gogh and a new approach to traditional art practice, 1996, n. 385, fig. 76 pp. 122, 149
- Brettell, Richard R. and Stephen F. Eisenman, Nineteenth-Century Art in the Norton Simon Museum, volume 1, 2006,
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1001 p. 361
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