Odilon Redon

The French painter and graphic artist Odilon Redon (1840-1916) was a leading symbolist and a forerunner of surrealism.

Odilon Redon was born on April 20, 1840, in Bordeaux. His father was a rich French colonist in the southern United States; his mother, of French descent, was from New Orleans. Odilon lived on his uncle's estate in Peyrelebade until 1851, and he spent summers there from 1874 to 1897.

Redon began to study drawing in 1855 with Stanislas Gorin in Bordeaux. At his father's wish Redon started to study architecture in 1860. Four years later he was accepted in the painting class of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He exhibited some prints in the Salon of 1867. During 1870-1871 he served in the Franco-Prussian War.

In 1878 Redon visited Belgium and the Netherlands, studied the works of Rembrandt, and learned from Henri Fantin-Latour the technique of lithography. He produced his first lithographic series, In the Dream, in 1879; his second, For Edgar Allan Poe, in 1882; and his third, The Origins, in 1883. In 1884 Redon became known in avant-garde literary circles through J. K. Huysman's symbolist novel Against the Grain, in which Huysman said Redon's drawings "were outside of any known category; most of them leap beyond the boundaries of painting, innovating a very special fantasy, a fantasy of sickness and delirium." That same year Redon exhibited in the first Salon des Indépendants, which he had helped to create.

Redon's next lithographic series were Homage to Goya in 1885 and The Night in 1886. He exhibited with the impressionists in Paris and with "The Twenty" in Brussels in 1886. He did three series of lithographs for Gustave Flaubert's The Temptation of St. Anthony—1888, 1889, 1896—and a series for Charles Baudelaire's Fleurs du mal in 1890.

Not until 1890 did Redon produce his first pastels and oils. At this time he replaced Paul Gauguin as a mentor of the young Nabis. The lithographic series Dreams was produced in 1891, and his last series, the Revelation of St. John, in 1899. Redon also produced some fine portraits, decorative screens, and wall ornaments, and he executed designs for tapestries.

In 1900 Redon began a series of flower studies, turning away from the macabre subjects and nightmare visions of his black-and-white lithographs and drawings to paint in the most voluptuous colors, as in Flowers in a Vase (ca. 1905) and Vase with Anemones (1912-1914). He was more fully represented at the famous Armory Show of 1913 in New York City than any other artist. He died in Paris on July 6, 1916.

Further Reading

The outstanding work on Redon in English is Klaus Berger, Odilon Redon: Fantasy and Colour (1964). An earlier work is Walter Pach, Odilon Redon (1913). The definitive book on Redon's graphics is André Mellerio, Odilon Redon (1913; repr. 1968), the text of which is in French. Redon is discussed in John Rewald, Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin (2d ed. 1962).

Additional Sources

Cassou, Jean, Odilon Redon, Deurne-Anvers: Plantyn, 1974.

Eisenman, Stephen, The temptation of Saint Redon: biography, ideology, and style in the Noirs of Odilon Redon, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.

Hobbs, Richard, Odilon Redon, London: Studio Vista, 1977.

Redon, Odilon, To myself: notes on life, art, and artists, New York: G. Braziller, 1986. □

Redon, Odilon (1840–1916). French painter and graphic artist, one of the outstanding figures of Symbolism. He led a retiring life, first in his native Bordeaux, then from 1870 in Paris, and until he was in his fifties he worked almost exclusively in black-and-white—in lithographs and charcoal drawings. In these he developed a highly distinctive repertoire of weird subjects—strange amoeboid creatures, insects, and plants with human heads—influenced by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. He remained virtually unknown to the public until the publication of J. K. Huysmans's celebrated novel A Rebours in 1884; the book's hero, a disenchanted aristocrat who lives in a private world of perverse delights, collects Redon's drawings, and with his mention in this classic expression of decadence, Redon too became a figurehead of the movement. During the 1890s he turned to painting and revealed remarkable powers as a colourist that had long lain dormant. Much of his early life had been unhappy, but after undergoing a religious crisis in the early 1890s and a serious illness in 1894–5, he was transformed into a much more buoyant and cheerful personality, expressing himself in radiant colours in visionary subjects, flower paintings, and mythological scenes (The Chariot of Apollo was one of his favourite themes). He showed equal facility in oils and pastels, and after 1900 also carried out a number of decorative schemes, the largest of which (1910–11) was for the library at the former abbey of Fontfroide, Narbonne, the home of one of his patrons, Gustave Fayet. The two main panels in this scheme represent Night and Day. Redon's flower pieces, in particular, were much admired by Matisse, and the Surrealists regarded him as one of their precursors. By the end of his life he was a distinguished figure (he was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1903), although still a very private person. A collection of his writings was published posthumously in 1922 under the title A Soi-même; it contains personal material such as diaries as well as art criticism.

Redon, Odilon (b Bordeaux, 20 Apr. 1840; d Paris, 6 July 1916). French painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, one of the outstanding figures of Symbolism. He led a retiring life, first in Bordeaux, then from 1870 in Paris, and until he was in his fifties he worked almost exclusively in black and white—in charcoal drawings and lithographs. In these he developed a highly distinctive repertoire of weird subjects—strange amoeboid creatures, insects, and plants with human heads and so on, influenced by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. He remained virtually unknown to the public until the publication of J. K. Huysmans's celebrated novel A rebours in 1884; the book's hero, a disenchanted aristocrat who lives in a private world of perverse delights, collects Redon's drawings, and with his mention in this classic expression of decadence, Redon too became a figurehead of the movement. During the 1890s he turned to painting and revealed remarkable powers as a colourist that had previously lain dormant. Much of his early life had been unhappy, but after undergoing a religious crisis in the early 1890s and a serious illness in 1894–5, he was transformed into a much more buoyant and cheerful personality, expressing himself in radiant colours in visionary subjects, flower paintings, and mythological scenes (the chariot of Apollo was one of his favourite themes). He showed equal facility in oils and pastel and after 1900 he carried out a number of large decorative schemes. His flower pieces, in particular, were much admired by Matisse, and the Surrealists regarded him as one of their precursors. By the end of his life he was a distinguished figure, although still a very private person.

Redon, Odilon (1840–1916). French painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, one of the outstanding figures of Symbolism. He led a retiring life, first in his native Bordeaux, then from 1870 in Paris, and until he was in his fifties he worked almost exclusively in black and white—in charcoal drawings and lithographs. In these he developed a highly distinctive repertoire of weird subjects—strange amoeboid creatures, insects, and plants with human heads and so on, influenced by the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. He remained virtually unknown to the public until the publication of J. K. Huysmans's celebrated novel A rebours in 1884; the book's hero, a disenchanted aristocrat who lives in a private world of perverse delights, collects Redon's drawings, and with his mention in this classic expression of decadence, Redon too became a figurehead of the movement. During the 1890s he turned to painting and revealed remarkable powers as a colourist that had previously lain dormant. Much of his early life had been unhappy, but after undergoing a religious crisis in the early 1890s and a serious illness in 1894–5, he was transformed into a much more buoyant and cheerful personality, expressing himself in radiant colours in visionary subjects, flower paintings, and mythological scenes (the Chariot of Apollo was one of his favourite themes). He showed equal facility in oils and pastel and after 1900 he carried out a number of large decorative schemes. His flower pieces, in particular, were much admired by Matisse, and the Surrealists regarded Redon as one of their precursors. By the end of his life he was a distinguished figure, although still a very private person.

Odilon Redon , 1840-1916, French painter and lithographer. He studied in Paris under Gérôme. Later his friend Fantin-Latour taught him lithography, but he was most influenced by Rodolphe Bresdin, an older artist who had created a world of fantastic imagery. Redon's first volume of lithographs, Dans le rêve, appeared in 1879. After 1889 he devoted himself to oil painting and especially pastels. Symbolically conceived, his work is related to that of writers such as Poe, Baudelaire, and Mallarmé. An artist of lyrical and mystical vision, he created translucent flower pieces and often depicted literary subjects. Redon stands as a precursor to surrealism, with his mysterious evocations of a dreamworld. Characteristic of his paintings are Les Yeux clos (Louvre) and Le Silence (Mus. of Modern Art, New York City). Fine examples of his graphic work can be found at the Art Institute, Chicago, and at the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris.

Bibliography: See his journal, À Soi-Même (1922); Graphic Works (tr. 1913, repr. 1969); studies by K. Berger (1965), J. Selz (1971), and S. F. Eisenman (1992).

Redon, Odilon (1840–1916) French painter and graphic artist. Redon was an influential exponent of symbolism. He worked mainly in black and white, creating a fantasy world of weird amorphous creatures, insects, and human heads with plant bodies. In the 1890s, he began painting mythological scenes and flower paintings in radiant colours.

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