Odilon Redon (1840-1916) - Lot 114

Odilon Redon (1840-1916) Woman with hennin. 1900. Lithograph. [250x316mm]. Mellerio 186. Very fine proof on chine volant. Fine vertical folds at lower left edge. Full margins. Posthumous print by Auguste Clot. This plate was intended as an illustration for Mallarmé's poem "Un coup de dé jamais n'abolira le hasard", one of the last he wrote and one of the first typographic poems in French literature. As early as June-July 1897, Ambroise Vollard wanted to produce a luxurious edition illustrated with lithographs by Mallarmé's friend Odilon Redon. But in 1898, Mallarmé's death interrupted the publishing project. Vollard kept the thirteen sets of proofs of the texts and the lithographs by Redon, but the book never saw the light of day. One of the stones lithographed by Redon was lost in transit to the printer, and today only the prints of three lithographs remain. La Femme au hennin is the first plate in this suite.