Rodolphe BRESDIN

The printmaker and draftsman Rodolphe Bresdin was a bohemian artist who despised the nineteenth century.  Although Bresdin’s artwork was praised in his own lifetime by a circle of insiders such as Victor Hugo, Charles Baudelaire, Robert de Montesquiou, and Odilon Redon he did not receive widespread artistic acclaim until the mid-20^th century.  Bresdin lived in Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and even Montreal between the years of 1873 and 1877 where he thought he would make his fortune, only to return to France disappointed.  Self-taught, Bresdin produced his first print in 1839.  Although Bresdin’s graphic work is usually small in format it is filled with a seemingly infinite number of minute details rendered with the most incredible precision.  Bresdin was fond of bringing together unlikely pairings as the figures of Mother and Death and depicting nature in a fantastic way, giving his works a dreamlike dimension.