Lot Essay
Redon's reputation as a literary artist and a romantic was confirmed by the 'noirs' he produced in the 1880s. Works such as his album of lithographs Hommage à Goya demonstrates this. Accompanied by a prose poem, they describe a dream experience; the final plate showing the dark, deftly distinguished profile of a woman, and the words "On waking, I saw the Goddess of the Intelligible with her severe and hard profile". The lithographs of these years are haunting and melancholic. However, between 1880 and 1900 Redon began to work with pastels, and this brought a new warmth and serenity to his oeuvre. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his portraits. Once the female profile was suffused with subtle colour tones the overall effect is quite different.
The head of a woman seen in profile became a recurrent symbol in Redon's oeuvre. With this simple and effective image, reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelites, Redon portrayed characters from literary and religious themes, although he often depicted mystery women. Tête de Jeune Femme is one such work. The young woman, seen only in profile, appears as a vision. The warm yellows in the background illumine the outline of her face and set off the glow on her delicate features. She seems demure and distant, almost other-worldly. The pastel portrait of Jeanne d'Arc (Odilon Redon, Wildenstein, Paris, 1992, no. 240) which uses a vibrant red background to set off the outline of the woman's portrait exudes the same warmth and sense of calm, as does the portrait of Dante's Béatrice (Wildenstein no. 145). The delicate infusions of colour in each, set against a pure female profile, are wonderfully evocative.
The visionary quality of Redon's Profils encompasses even his lithographs. In these, like Profil de Lumière (Wildenstein no. 268) we again see how the profile of a woman is given a mysterious air, illuminated by an unnatural light which covers her face like a veil. These intimate portraits seem steeped in symbolic meaning. They are both highly sensual and yet quite ethereal. "Dès son enfance était établie dans sa conscience une relation entre l'expérience lyrique et érotique d'une part, religieuse et esthetique de l'autre, ce qui aide à comprendre le cote illustratif de ses profils de femme". (S. Sandstrom, 1955, p. 160)
The head of a woman seen in profile became a recurrent symbol in Redon's oeuvre. With this simple and effective image, reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelites, Redon portrayed characters from literary and religious themes, although he often depicted mystery women. Tête de Jeune Femme is one such work. The young woman, seen only in profile, appears as a vision. The warm yellows in the background illumine the outline of her face and set off the glow on her delicate features. She seems demure and distant, almost other-worldly. The pastel portrait of Jeanne d'Arc (Odilon Redon, Wildenstein, Paris, 1992, no. 240) which uses a vibrant red background to set off the outline of the woman's portrait exudes the same warmth and sense of calm, as does the portrait of Dante's Béatrice (Wildenstein no. 145). The delicate infusions of colour in each, set against a pure female profile, are wonderfully evocative.
The visionary quality of Redon's Profils encompasses even his lithographs. In these, like Profil de Lumière (Wildenstein no. 268) we again see how the profile of a woman is given a mysterious air, illuminated by an unnatural light which covers her face like a veil. These intimate portraits seem steeped in symbolic meaning. They are both highly sensual and yet quite ethereal. "Dès son enfance était établie dans sa conscience une relation entre l'expérience lyrique et érotique d'une part, religieuse et esthetique de l'autre, ce qui aide à comprendre le cote illustratif de ses profils de femme". (S. Sandstrom, 1955, p. 160)