Curtis on Gamboni, trans. Whittall (2011)

When he first published La plume et le pinceau; Odilon Redon et la littérature in 1989 (Les Éditions de Minuit), Dario Gamboni faced the same limitations that existed for other Redon scholars. Specific titles and dates of many works were unknown and many of the artist's writings were unavailable for study. The book was based on Gamboni's dissertation which placed what could be known about Redon's writings "within the context of his relations with literature and writers, against the background of the relations between fin-de-siècle art and literature." Already, in the original edition, Gamboni's close reading of available sources turned up many additional insights. His analysis of the role of the critic and art criticism in relation to Redon considered the new system of dealers and critics that was displacing the academic salons. Thus, his French publication has been valuable to both art historians and literary scholars thanks to its careful consideration of the writings of Huysmans, Mallarmé, Baudelaire and many other, sometimes less widely studied, writers and critics.

The translation and revision of the 1989 text includes new information that became available when the Art Institute of Chicago acquired the papers of Redon's biographer André Mellerio, who had made copies of some of Redon's writings and personal inventories. Study of these led to ground-breaking research on Redon as reflected in the catalogue for the Art Institute's 1994 exhibition with its important essays by Douglas Druick and Peter Zegers. Additional insights appeared in separate publications by Tedd Gott, Roseline Bacou, Barbara Larson and Gamboni himself.

Despite the inclusion of these more recent revelations in Gamboni's revision, it is remarkable how closely this edition follows his original text. He includes the same number of chapters with roughly the same headings as in the original French volume. Some new reproductions of artworks are included and, although still in black and white, it is a pleasure to find them placed closer to the sections where they are discussed within the text. In some cases, Gamboni has been able to include more accurate information about Redon's original titles. Perhaps the only lamentable omission in the new edition is a complete bibliography, which would have been helpful considering the many new sources consulted. Although numerous short sections of the text have been updated to reflect new scholarship, the vast majority of changes appear in the endnotes where brief commentaries lend support to Gamboni's initial conclusions. The similarities between the two editions lead one to agree with the author's assertion in his new introduction that the original publication "has not lost its validity, and that its topicality has even been enhanced."

There are, in fact, instances where Gamboni has rewritten entire sections. For example, in the fifth chapter, which deals with Edgar Allan Poe and the Graphic Arts, over ten pages have been added in a subsection called "Translating Poe." Here, Gamboni demonstrates how several drawings by Redon can be more explicitly connected to specific stories by Poe. Such welcome in-depth analysis of Redon's works can also be found in other sections of the book, especially the one on The Face of Mystery. Even more minor additions offer the reader fascinating insights.   

One example of this careful attention to detail is Gamboni's recognition of an unconscious "slip" or "pun" that recurs frequently in Redon's early manuscripts. The word "pénombre," meaning "twilight or darkness" is replaced with "peine ombre" which would mean "sorrow shadow." This slip reveals Redon's painful associations with the oppressive shadows that frequently appear in his early drawings. This idea also relates to the artist's early predilection for black. Gamboni's careful reading further reveals that when these manuscripts appeared in an edition by Claire Moran, "this highly significant misspelling is unfortunately corrected without mention."

Gamboni's enhanced translation adds considerably to our knowledge of Redon's interaction with the literary sphere. This includes not only Redon's own art criticism, but also his interactions with, and sometimes manipulations of, other critics. Indeed, Gamboni's thorough exploration of late nineteenth-century art criticism examines the various forms that were produced, from journal articles to criticism within novels and the "literary transposition" of works of visual art. He adeptly demonstrates the ways Redon's "change of direction" towards the end of his career led to conscious attempts to distance himself from the very literary associations he had actively sought out as a means to gain recognition earlier.  

Gamboni discusses dialogues between the brush and pen in both textual sources and illustrations such as Grandville's Un Autre Monde--which was included in the original edition. These passages are simply delightful, as are the added discussions of works such as James Ensor's Dangerous Cooks and Jasper Johns's The Critic Speaks which help to demonstrate the ways in which these dialogues between word and image has continued relevance for developments in later modernism.