Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Odilon Redon


Odilon Redon (1840-1916) is a French Symbolist artist known for his greatly sensitive and imaginative artworks. While his real name is Bertrand-Jean Redon, he called himself and is better known as Odilon, a nickname that came from his mother’s name, Odile. He spent his early childhood apart from rest of his family, an experience that seems to have created a psychological trauma that later on affected his artworks.
 
Odilon did not lead a successful career as an artist until he reached his forties. He started painting at a young age, winning a prize for drawing at eleven. But until mid-twenties, failure to become an architect and failure to fit into a respectable art studio as his family wished left him with nothing but uncertainties. It was, ironically, a war that provided him a rest from those troubles. A brief but active participation as a soldier in Franco-Prussian War in 1870 gave him time to rethink about his uncertain life. Afterwards, he adopted a more positive and deliberate perspective on his future career as an artist, and began, at last, to produce more expressive and mature works.


Guardian Spirit of the Waters, 1878
 
The Smiling Spider, 1881
 
 
While Odilon’s style went through various small changes, the main stylistic transition occurred in 1890s. Before then, his works mainly consisted of “noirs”, black and white images done mostly in lithography and charcoal. As seen in the examples of Guardian Spirit of the Waters and Guardian Spirit of the Waters, it is clear that Odilon sought creativity in his paintings. I like how his paintings are strangely serene even with monstrous and grotesque subjects. That disturbing yet serene quality was one of the things about Odilon’s paintings that stood out the most to me. He once defined his art as putting “the logic of the visible at the service of the invisible.” Odilon constantly shifts back and forth from reality to fantasy. While bringing out his inner state of mind, he keenly observed the nature to do so.
 
 
Buddha, 1905
 
Yellow Boat, 1910
 
Bouquet in a Persian Vase, 1910
 
 
During the 1890s, a series of events like Odilon’s success at the 1894 Durand-Ruel exhibition and the selling of his old family home in 1897 influenced him to acquire yet another new perspective of life. He became more inventive in use of colors to express his imaginations. Odilon’s “noirs” were gradually replaced by more colorful paintings that were filled with joy and happiness.
 
During the 1890s, a series of events like Odilon’s success at the 1894 Durand-Ruel exhibition and the selling of his old family home in 1897 influenced him to acquire yet another new perspective of life. He became more inventive in use of colors to express his imaginations. Odilon’s “noirs” were gradually replaced by more colorful paintings that were filled with joy and happiness.
 
 
Silence, 1911
 

Silence is one of my personal favorites of Odilon’s works. Silence was among the first Odilon’s paintings I encountered. With this very simple painting of one person in a circular frame, he conveys sorrow, agony, and a stunning “silence” so effectively. The painting’s overall secretive nature, enhanced by the lowered gaze of the figure and the two fingers put on his/her mouth, makes me experience different feelings and thoughts every time I watch the painting.
 
 
Closed Eyes, 1890
 
Closed Eyes is my another favorite. The figure’s closed eyes, typical subject of Odilon, again gives off a secretive silence. But this time, the silence is warm, and it seems like it is there for me to find peace within myself. The softness of pastel enhances the warmness and intimacy of the painting.
 
 
 
Sources
 
<Picture Sources>
Redon, Odilon. Bouqeut in a Persian Vase. 1910. Odilon Redon The Complete Works. Web. 29 September 2013.
Redon, Odilon. Buddha. 1905. Odilon Redon The Complete Works. Web. 08 October 2013.
Redon, Odilon. Closed Eyes. 1890. Odilon Redon The Complete Works. Web. 29 September 2013.
Redon, Odilon. Guardian Spirit of the Waters. 1878. Odilon Redon The Complete Works. Web. 01 October 2013.
Redon, Odilon. Silence. 1911. Odilon Redon The Complete Works. Web. 29 September 2013.
Redon, Odilon. The Smiling Spider. 1881. Odilon Redon The Complete Works. Web. 29 September 2013.
Redon, Odilon. Yellow Boat. 1910. Odilon Redon The Complete Works. Web. 01 October 2013.

<Information Sources>
Druick, Douglas W., et al. Odilon Redon: prince of dreams, 1840-1916. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994. Print.
Hobbs, Richard. Odilon Redon. Billericay, Essex: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print.
Selz, Jean. Odilon Redon. Trans. Eileen B. Hennessy. New York: Crown Publishers Inc., 1971. Print.

 

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