{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O793730"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O793730/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011EV0463/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011EV0463/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2011EV0463","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O793730/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O793730","accessionNumber":"E.2700-1908","objectType":"Print","titles":[{"title":"Des Esseintes","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"J. K. Huysmans was a friend and patron of Redon, commissioning him to design this gloomy frontispiece for an 1888 edition of his notorious novel 'À Rebours', first published in 1884. The title has been translated as 'Against the Grain' or 'Against Nature' and follows the eccentric character of Jean des Esseintes as he retreats to the countryside into a cloistered, aesthetic world largely devoted to solitary reading and rarified pleasures of the senses. Huysman's described him as \"seeking refuge in illusions of extravagant fantasy, living alone, far from his century\" but his isolation, depression and unusual dietary experiments including enemas of cod-liver oil, egg yolks, red wine and beef tea lead to a further collapse of his fragile health and he is forced to return to the city.  Considered a cornerstone of the Aesthetic and Decadent genre, it is also a fin-de-siecle example of what might today be called gay or queer literature.","physicalDescription":"Lithograph print of a shadowy figure disappearing into a high-backed armchair.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Redon","id":"A35784"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Literature","id":"THES284210"},{"text":"LGBTQ","id":"THES266921"}],"styles":[{"text":"Decadent","id":"AAT21439"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2011EV0463"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLE","id":"THES49657"},"free":"","case":"MP","shelf":"81","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"print","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"France","id":"x28849"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1888","earliest":"1888-01-01","latest":"1888-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Presented by A. G. B. Russell, Esq.","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"'Des Esseintes' by Odilon Redon, lithograph frontispiece for 'À Rebours' by Joris-Karl Huysmans. France, circa 1888.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.2700-1908"],"accessionNumberNum":"2700","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1908,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-05-02","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-30","availableToBook":false}}