Odilon Redon

Odilon Redon (1840-1916), French painter and lithographer, born in Bordeaux. His albums of lithographs, such as Dans le rêve (In the Dream, 1879) and La nuit (Night, 1886), show a dramatic range from deep blacks to vivid whites. In such works Redon, like his friends the symbolist writers, strove to give form to ideas, especially his own thoughts, emotions, and dreams (see Symbolist Movement). He was also inspired by literature and biology. After 1890 he abandoned black and turned to vivid oils and pastels. His brilliantly colored flowers, landscapes, and literary subjects have a romantic, dreamlike quality, as, for example, Vase of Flowers (1914, Museum of Modern Art, New York City) and Orpheus (1903, Cleveland Museum of Art). Redon is considered a precursor of surrealism.