Odilon Redon

Odilon Redon was born in 1840 and died at the age of 76 in 1916.  He was a french painter and graphic artist who painted in black and white charcoal for the first fifty years of his life. Much of his early art was inspired by the writing of Edward Allen Pie.    His early pieces, even in that day, could be viewed as deeply moving or even depressing.  This period of painting suggested a very unhappy life but regardless of this his work was considered to be an inspiration to the Surrealist painters in the early part of the 20^th century.  This group included painters such as Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Joan Miró. 

Many of his early black and white charcoal works were similar to the following art pieces:

1878 The Eye Balloon

1881 Cactus Man

1881 The Crying Spider

It was during this period Redon developed a great admiration for Rembrandt and said: "No one master has painted drama as Rembrandt did. Everything, even the smallest sketches, involve[s] the human heart.  Artists were as interested in revealing the human psyche through the face as Rembrandt was-- the face as a mirror of the soul’’.  But in my opinion his art did not really emulate Rembrandts’ work. But perhaps he saw not only the beauty but the imagination that Rembrandt used in much of his work such as the painting below.

The Ascesion 1636

In the early 1880 he married Camille Falte and it was during this period that Redon was first introduced to pastels.  He began then to paint with the beautiful radiant colours of pastels that must have been available even then.  A complete change from his previous techniques.  He still depicting scenes that were part of his imagination but he added many florals to his works.  His flower paintings were very much admired by Matisse.

Woman in Profile with Flowers

Although he was painting in vibrant colours depicting objects and people that appeared more realistic and not so imaginary you can still see that he still added mystery to much of his work, as in the very top part of the painting that is in darkness.  You can see the woman’s head and the other objects that you cannot quite understand in darkness.  Perhaps he painted this particular painting when he was emerging from the darkness of the previous part of his life.

The painting of Redon, below, I find very beautiful.  It does not appear finished but the figure of the woman seems to be holding on to the large white swan and she is staring into a dark shape, possibly signifying the dark part of herself.  I am not sure.  The colours are very vibrant almost as if he has come out of the blackness and he can see the light.

Leda and the Swan

The painting of Henri Matisse, below, is typical of the style he used for floral paintings but I do not see a great resemblance to Redons' works.  Matisse was a master at backgrounds, whereas Redon chose very simple basic backgrounds of mainly colour.

Vase with Flowers

It is unknown when this painting was done by Redon but he has combined beautiful colours with the mystery of the face of a person.  The person could be a man or a woman and with the location of the hand you are left to wonder what he or she was thinking about.  The colours are beautifully combined so I would suggest that it was one of his later paintings.

 Profile of Woman and Flowers

A stunning piece of work which appears to have both the mystery of almost a faceless woman surrounded by a halo and the vibrant colours of the flowers in pastel. 

The following painting in my opinion greatly sums up his style of work.  He uses his imagination to add mystery to a painting while using the perfect combinations of the colour to enhance the experience.  The face of the figure could be a man or a woman, with an unusual colour.  The hand is placed under the face in a pose that gives the you the feeling the person is in deep contemplation.

 Mystery

This an interesting site that has explored the different methods used by Redon: http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v14/bp14-08.html  on techniques he actually used to paint his art.

Odilen Redon was certainly a uniquely talented artist who used his experiences in life to reproduce his feelings into his paintings.  The very dark period in his earlier life where he expirienced ill health, religious confusion, death of his father and perhaps even the study of Edward Allen Poe all attributed to his particular style of art.  Perhaps the change in his art after fifty years came around because he was happy, even if his first child died he was fortunate enough to have a second child who survived.  Perhaps, with the introduction of the pastels by his wife he began to see the world as a more happier place.  Perhaps this is just a personal opinion but I see colour has happiness.