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Mon Rêve
(Version II)
Van Gelder 150;
Préaud 17
etching,
1883, a trial proof of
State II (according to Van Gelder), the IIIrd state of IV (according to
Préaud), signed in pencil, below, before letters and before the first
edition (published in L'Art Moderne),
with full (wide) margins, on
medium-weight Japon paper
(from the first print run of 25, according to Préaud), a very fine
impression, with full margins, some unobtrusive
soiling, traces
of old mounting tape, verso, otherwise in excellent condition
P. 138x220mm; S.
374x260mm.
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The artist (standing alone in
the foreground, lower left, wearing a pilgrim's hat and staff) has
condensed his vision into a bustling port, set against a vertiginous cityscape.
Rodolphe Bresdin completed his
last etching under arduous conditions: he was miserable, isolated
in Sèvres, and suffering from old age; as Henri Second relates in L'Art Moderne :
"Il a constamment mal aux yeux, et, à plusieurs reprises, il a été frappé de cécité complète..."
["His eyes are constantly sore, and, on several occasions, he was struck by complete blindness..."]
He nevertheless worked very hard to produce this print, making a number of quite detailed sketches (see Van Gelder, Vol. I, fig. 136 and 137, pp. 136-137; andVol. II, p. 148-150).
