Odilon Redon: feedback and thoughts

 Today we had our first lecture - it was about Odilon Redon. Redon was born on 20th April 1840 in Bordeaux, France. He was a symbolist painter, lithographer and etcher of considerable poetic sensitive and imagination.

The first thought that came to my mind after watching his artworks is that he was probably a depressed person or a person that supressed his emotions in his early life and that later on, in the age of 50,  he learned to apreciate life and nature - when the colourful and brightful paintings appeared.

Redon O. (1867), Self Portrait [oil on panel] Museé d'Orsay

During the class we not only talked about his life but we also had the oportunity to see and discuss some of his artworks. I really liked his later paintings but as far as I am concerned his best artworks were the lithographs. Lately, I have been drawing some themes more obsucre so I  identfied myself with Redon.

Redon O. (1882), The Eye, Like a Strange Balloon, Mounts toward Infinity [lithograph on chine collé] Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Redon's lithographs seem to come from a nightmare or a different world -  a world of fantasy, with phantoms and monsters in which the darkness dominates. I really liked the way he constrasts his artworks and how unique they are. I saw dozens of charcoal drawings and llithographs of Redon and it was very clear of whose work were due to its uniqueness.

Reference:

Britannica, Odilion Redon [online], Available from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Odilon-Redon (Accessed 14.01.2021)