Odilon Redon I Am The First Consciousness Of Chaos The Black Album

"I am the first consciousness of chaos collects the key "noirs"--Lithographs, etchings and charcoals -- of Odilon Redon, perhaps the most enigmatic and esoteric works in the artistic lineage that leads directly from Symbolism to Surrealism. Never previously available in a single trade volume, the majority of Redon's noirs -- over 250 illustrations -- are finally collated here, along with illuminating excerpts from the decadent texts which inspired their creation. Authors featured include J-K Huysmans, Gustave Flaubert, Charles Baudelaire, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, St. John the Divine, Edgar Allan Poe and others; the book also includes an autobiographical introductory essay by Redon himself."--Publisher's description.