| During the second half of the nineteenth century France was home to three of the most misunderstood geniuses in the history of art; the painter, Van Gogh, the etcher, Charles Meryon, and the lithographer, Odilon Redon. Each suffered from either ridicule or anonymity during most of their careers, only to be discovered by the following generations as masters of the moderns. Fortunately for Redon his discovery came while he was still alive. In 1913, when he was seventy-three, the famous Armory Show in New York presented modern French art to an astounded America. Works of art by Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Matisse were all the lithographs, pastels and paintings of Odilon Redon. Works by Redon were sold in a higher percentage than those by any other exhibitor. The intensely personal art of Redon had at last been grasped with at least a partial understanding.
At seventeen, Redon was sent to Paris to prepare for a career as an architect. For a young man whose interests centered upon art, music, literature, science and nature this field of study held little fascination. He thus enrolled in the painting classes of Jean-Leon Gerome in 1864. Gerome's dry and academic style of teaching was completely alien to the temperament of Redon, however, he taught himself much more by frequenting the Louvre and studying the art of Da Vinci, Durer and Rembrandt. As well, at this time, Redon was befriended by another enigmatic genius, Rodolphe Bressdin (1822 - 1885). From Bresdin Redon learned both to etch and to make lithographs. Stylistically, Bresdin's intricate mazes of detailed imagery offered little influence to the future course of Redon's art, but Bresdin's insistence upon exploration of the artist's personal visions and dreams takes us firmly to the world of Redon. More than anything, Bresdin gave Redon the courage to follow his own feelings.
Redon's early career dealt mainly with etching and writing. It wasn't until 1879 (when he was thirty-nine) that he published his first series of lithographs, the now famous, 'Dans le Reve' ('In the Dreamworld'). The following twenty years of Redon's career mark a highpoint of lithographic art. Such marvelous series as, 'Hommage a Goya', 'La Nuit' 'A Gustave Flaubert', 'Les Fleurs du Mal' and 'l' Apocalypse de Saint-Jean' were all created in this twenty year span, as well as a number of classic, individual lithographs.
Redon's last years were given over mostly to his pastel drawings. But his genius turned to one last group of lithographs, a penetrating set of eight profile portraits which stretch over the years from 1900 to 1908. The subjects were four fellow artists, Vuillard, Bonnard, Serusier and Denis, the pianist, Ricardo Vines, the guitarist Miguel Llobet, Juliette Dodu, and the art critic, Roger Marx. Roger Marx (1859- 1913) was a very influential voice in late nineteenth century French art. He was, along with Andre Mellerio, one of the first to draw attention to the art of Odilon Redon. |
