See works by Redon
Admired by the Symbolists and the Post-Impressionist generation of Bonnard, Vuillard, et al., claimed as an influence on the Surrealists, Redon nonetheless stands apart from any movement. His art is above all personal, attempting through unexpected juxtapositions to convey a logic of dreams, or, as he put it, a "logic of the visible in the service of the invisible."
Redon owed his first fame to his lithographs, whose rich blacks were the envy of fellow artists and the delight of collectors. Fitch-Febvrel has long specialized in Redon's prints.
Collections
1840 - Born 22 April, Bordeaux
1851 - Receives a drawing prize at school
1855 - Begins a three-year period of studying drawing with Stanislas Gorin
1857 - Studies architecture at his father's behest, working under Louis-Hippolyte Lebas. Befriends botanical student Armand Clavaud
1862 - Applies to study at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, but fails oral exam for the architecture school
1863 - Returns to Bordeaux. Studies sculpture
1864 - Attends Léon Gérôme's atelier libre, École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, which proves to be an unhappy experience, returns home after a few months
1865 - Returns to Bordeaux, meets Rodolphe Bresdin who teaches Redon etching and lithography
1870 - Serves as a soldier in Franco-Prussian war
1872 - Moves to Paris
1873-77 Works almost exclusively in charcoal and lithography at his studio in Paris
1874 - Redon's father dies resulting in financial difficulties for the family
1879 - Publishes first album of lithographs, Dans le Rêve
1880 - Marries Camille Falte, a Creole woman
1882 - Publishes second album, À Edgar Poe
1882 - Meets J.K. Huysmans and Émile Henniquin
1883 - Beginning of friendship with with Stéphane Mallarmé
1883 - Publishes album Les Origines
1885 - Death of Bresdin
1888 - Publishes album La Tentation de Saint Antoine
1889 - Takes part in the first Peintres-Graveurs exhibition, Durand-Ruel; Meets André Mellerio (his future cataloguer); Publishes album À Gustave Flaubert
1899 - Exhibits with the Nabis at Durand-Ruel's
1890 - Publishes album Les Fleurs du Mal
1891 - Publishes album Songes
1896 - Publishes second album entitled La Tentation de Saint Antoine (third in series inspired by Flaubert)
1903 - Receives rosette of Légion d'Honneur
1904 - Entire room devoted to Redon's work at the Salon d'Automne
1913 - Catalogue of etchings and lithographs published by Mellerio; Forty of his works exhibited at the New York Armory Show (the largest single representation)
1916 - Redon dies 6 July
1923 - Odilon Redon: Peintre, Dessinateur et Graveur published by Mellerio
Bacou, Roseline. La donation Arï et Suzanne Redon.
Musée du Louvre (Paris: 1984).
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Berger, Klaus. Odilon Redon: Fantasy and Colour.
McGraw-Hill Book Co. (New York: 1965).
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Druick, Douglas W., et al. Odilon Redon: Prince of Dreams, 1840-1916.
Harry N. Abrams (New York: 1994).
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Gibson, Michael. Odilon Redon 1840-1916: The Prince of Dreams.
Taschen (Germany: 1996).
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Gott, Ted. The Enchanted Stone: The Graphic Worlds of Odilon Redon.
National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne: 1990).
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Harrison, Dr. Sharon R. The Etchings of Odilon Redon
Da Capo Press (New York: 1986).
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Werner, Alfred (intro). The Graphic Works of Odilon Redon.
Dover (New York: 1969).
[Reprint of the Mellerio publication Odilon Redon: oeuvre graphique complet]
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Wildenstein, Alec. Odilon Redon: Catalogue Raisonné [Volumes I-IV].
Wildenstein Institute. (Paris: I: 1992; II:1994; III: 1996; IV: 1998).
See June 6, 1985 New York Times Review
See May 21, 1993 New York Times Review
See works by Redon
See a list of all Gallery Artists