\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 French painter, engraver, and writer.\par
A representative of the visionary and fantastic current in painting that was in m
any ways the antithesis of Impressionism, Odilon Redon is seen as one of the leaders in the figurative and literary culture of the second half of the nineteenth century. A cultured and eclectic artist, he experimented with many different forms of express
ion: from painting to graphics and from the decorative arts to writing (his journal and notes were published in 1922 under the title \i α soi-mΩme\i0 , or \i To Himself\i0 ). Up until about 1890 he was ignored by the official critics and the public, but
among his friends and admirers were writers, like MallarmΘ, Gide, and ValΘry, and Symbolist painters, like Paul Gauguin and the Nabis. Huysmans made him one of the favorite painters of Des Esseintes, the hero of his famous novel \i α rebours\i0 (1884).
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After studying drawing in the studio of S. Gorin, around 1863 he came into contact with Rodolphe Bresdin, who became his teacher and played a decisive part in his development, orienting him in the direction of a subjective representation of reality
that stemmed from an exploration of his own inner world. His work was influenced by such great visionary painters as Francisco de Goya y Lucientes and Gustave Moreau, whom Redon admired greatly, but the development of his original and bizarre style was d
ue largely to the botanist Clavaud, who revealed the fantastic world of the microscope to him. Under BresdinÆs guidance Redon began to practice the techniques of engraving and lithography, which he used for some of his most important works. Until about 1
890 he refused to use color and, when he did turn to pastel, watercolor, and oils in the subsequent period, he employed these techniques, as well, to bring out the irrational and hidden aspects of the most banal subjects, such as a bouquet of flowers (
\i Anemones\i0 , Paris, Louvre). Between 1870 and 1895 the greater part of his production consisted of the \i Blacks\i0 , a series of lithographs and charcoal drawings made on colored paper. Among the more significant of his series of graphic works are \i
Origins\i0 (1883), \i Homage to Goya\i0 (1885), \i The Night\i0 (1886), and the \i Apocalypse\i0 (1899). With a deep understanding of contemporary literature, Redon also illustrated works by MallarmΘ, Huysmans, Baudelaire, and Flaubert. For the latte
rÆs \i Temptation of Saint Anthony\i0 , he made as many as three series of lithographs, in 1888, 1889, and 1896. From 1890 onward the artist reproduced the subjects of his \i Blacks\i0 in paintings and charcoal drawings colored with pastel (\i Closed Ey
es\i0 , 1890, Paris, Louvre), but it was only after 1900 that he reintroduced color into his work definitively. During this last period of his career he produced a group of magnificent portraits in pastel (\i Violette Heymann\i0 , Cleveland Museum) and a
series of religious (\i Buddha\i0 , 1906, Paris, MusΘe dÆOrsay) and mythological works (\i ApolloÆs Chariot\i0 , Paris, Petit Palais, Bordeaux Museum; \i The Chariot of the Sun\i0 , Paris, MusΘe dÆOrsay). His last drawings were tinted with watercolor.
