Odilon Redon (April 20, 1840—July 6, 1916) was born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France, into a prosperous family. He was brough up by the nurse and then by his uncle, but finally moved to a small town where was far away from his family residence. He loved art since he was young, had been to museums in Paris when hr was seven years old and hr was awarded a drawing prize at school at the age of ten. But Redon was frail, he attended boarding school at the age of 11 and insistence of his father he changed to architecture. His failure to pass the entrance exams at Paris Ecole dex Beaux-Arts ended any plans for a career as an architect.
His artistic career was interrupted in 1870 when he joined the army to serve in the France-Prussian War. At the end of the war, he moved to Paris. Odilon Redon’s charcoal painting surely painted by charcoal, and his works almost exclusively in charcoal paintings, etchings and lithographs. He called visionary works, conceived in shades of black—“noirs”, which would not be until 1878 that his works gained any recognition with “Guardian Spirit of the Waters”, and he published his first album of lithographs, titled “Dans le Reve” in 1879. Still, Odilon Redon’s charcoal drawings and himself remaind relatively unknown unti the appearance in 1884 of a cult novel by Joris-Karl Huyasmans titled “A Rebours (Against Nature). The story featured a decadent aristocrat who collected Odilon Redon’s charcoal drawings. Redon got married when he was 40-year-old. He held his first solo exhibition in 1881, in 1884 he co-founded and sered as chairman of Sharon. In the 1890, pastel and oil became his faored media, and he produced no more “noirs” after 1900. But from 1894 to 1895, Redon was sick . After a serious illness there were many works of Christ’s image, reflecting his inner struggle. It was in 1903, he was awarded the Leigion of Honor. His popularity increased when a catalogue of etchings and lithographs was published, and at the same year, he was given the largest single representation at the New York Armory Show. He sold the housing estates in 1897. In 1909 he worked in Biwuleisi, and in 1911 he went to Venice. But Redon died on July 6, 1916.
The use of fantasy and sybolic highlight color, Redon’s style was very different between from the style of the 18th century. Since 1900, he had been outstanding and standed a generation of painting leader. He said: “Just by willpower, nothing in the arts can be achieed. Everything thanks to the subconscious. ”He also describes his works as ambiguous and undefinable: “My drawing inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undertermined. ”His process was explained best by himself when he said: “I have often, as an exercise and as a sustenance, painted before an object down to the smallest accidents of its visual appearance;but the day left me and with an unsatiated thirst, The next day I let the other source run, that of imagination, through the recollection of the forms and I was then reassured and appeased. ”
Odilon Redon’s charcoal drawings or his a catalogue of etchings and lithographs, all showed the tone of mystery and fantasy. I’m sure that you are in favor of them as well, if you want to seek more from Redon’s masterpieces, we are able to copy his works listed on our site, all reproductions painted on canvas by our artists. Welcome to our site and search for your favor ones !