(1840-1916)
Born Bertrand-Jean Redon in Bordeaux, France, Odilon Redon is a symbolist painter. His nickname is derived from his mother, Odile.
He studied architecture instead of drawing at the urging of his father, but failed the entrance exams at Paris' Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He began a career in sculpture, etching and lithography that was interrupted by his service in the French army for the Franco-Prussian War. Upon his return from the war, he worked in charcal and again with lithography.
Redon was fairly unknown until a novel entitled Rebours(Against Nature) by Jaris-Karl Huysmans, in which an eccentric aristocrat collects Redon's drawings.
Gaining recognition in his later years, he had the largest single representation at the New York Armory Show in 1913.
His work is often labeled as ambiguous, undefinable and sometimes dark. It's a representation of his exploration of his internal feelings and psyche. He wanted the "place the visible at the service of the invisible."
http://www.odilon-redon.org/the-complete-works.html
The first painting I ever saw of Redon's was in a show at the High Museum. It was entitled Le Barque (1901). I liked it because it gave me a sense of being unfinished.. There's a place in the sky that looks like Redon covered over after painting something. I'm not sure why that drew me to it so much, but it was nearly ten years ago and I still remember it clearly.
Pandora (1914)
Born Bertrand-Jean Redon in Bordeaux, France, Odilon Redon is a symbolist painter. His nickname is derived from his mother, Odile.
He studied architecture instead of drawing at the urging of his father, but failed the entrance exams at Paris' Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He began a career in sculpture, etching and lithography that was interrupted by his service in the French army for the Franco-Prussian War. Upon his return from the war, he worked in charcal and again with lithography.
Redon was fairly unknown until a novel entitled Rebours(Against Nature) by Jaris-Karl Huysmans, in which an eccentric aristocrat collects Redon's drawings.
Gaining recognition in his later years, he had the largest single representation at the New York Armory Show in 1913.
His work is often labeled as ambiguous, undefinable and sometimes dark. It's a representation of his exploration of his internal feelings and psyche. He wanted the "place the visible at the service of the invisible."
http://www.odilon-redon.org/the-complete-works.html
The first painting I ever saw of Redon's was in a show at the High Museum. It was entitled Le Barque (1901). I liked it because it gave me a sense of being unfinished.. There's a place in the sky that looks like Redon covered over after painting something. I'm not sure why that drew me to it so much, but it was nearly ten years ago and I still remember it clearly.
The Chariot of Apollo is another one of Redon's pieces that catches me.
Pandora (1914)
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