[Prev] [Next] [Up] [Top] [Search] [Index] [Home]
Odilon Redon
(1840-1916)
Redon, Odilon
(1840-1916).
French painter and graphic artist, one of the outstanding figures of
Symbolism.
He had 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 associated with the
movement.
During the 1890s Redon turned to painting and revealed remarkable powers
as a colorist that had 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 1894-95, he was transformed into a much more buoyant
and cheerful personality, expressing himself in radiant colors in
mythological scenes and flower paintings. He showed equal facility in
oils and pastel. The flower pieces, in particular, were much admired by
Matisse,
and the
Surrealists
regarded Redon as one of their precursors. He was a distinguished figure
by the end of his life, although still a very private person.
[Prev] [Next] [Up] [Top] [Search] [Index] [Home]
|
|
|