Odilon Redon

Odilon Redon was a leading French Symbolist known for morbid and fantastical imagery. After briefly studying painting in Paris, he trained in lithography back in his hometown of Bordeaux. For two decades, his work consisted entirely of charcoal drawings and lithographs, creating an otherworldly style in black and white that depicted strange mythological creatures. Redon only came to public attention after being mentioned in the novel À Rebours (1884) about a decadent, reclusive aesthete. During the 1890s, entranced by Indian and Japanese culture, Redon increasingly turned to the use of color in both pastel and oil paint. His work took on far more positive and radiant aspect, most evident in his dazzling series of flower paintings. By his final years, he had a built a great reputation and received the Légion d’honneur in 1903. Alongside influencing painters such as Matisse, he clearly anticipated many of the later developments of Surrealism.