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Lot Essay
Redon's reputation until 1890 rested entirely on work in black and white; his published books of lithographs and his charcoal Noirs. During the 1880s and 90s he used colour alongside monochrome, colour gradually becoming dominant.
The serene lyricism of these late colour works contrasts with the prevailing melancholy of the Symbolist Noirs, but Redon's fundamental aesthetic had not altered. Executed en plein air, usually on paper, these works testify, even in the midst of his "black period," to Redon's natural attachment to colour and nature.
The exploratory freedom with which he investigated the suggestive potential of colour contributed considerably to Post-Impressionist art. His innovations were admired by the Nabis and by some of the Fauves, including Matisse.
Odilon Redon was born in Bordeaux, to a prosperous family. Aged fifteen, he began the formal study of drawing, but on the insistence of his father he attempted, unsuccessfully, to become an architect. Winning acclaim in the Parisian literary avant-garde and his close association with Baudelaire, Redon was considered the major Symbolist artist.
The serene lyricism of these late colour works contrasts with the prevailing melancholy of the Symbolist Noirs, but Redon's fundamental aesthetic had not altered. Executed en plein air, usually on paper, these works testify, even in the midst of his "black period," to Redon's natural attachment to colour and nature.
The exploratory freedom with which he investigated the suggestive potential of colour contributed considerably to Post-Impressionist art. His innovations were admired by the Nabis and by some of the Fauves, including Matisse.
Odilon Redon was born in Bordeaux, to a prosperous family. Aged fifteen, he began the formal study of drawing, but on the insistence of his father he attempted, unsuccessfully, to become an architect. Winning acclaim in the Parisian literary avant-garde and his close association with Baudelaire, Redon was considered the major Symbolist artist.