Odilon (Bertrand-Jean) Redon was an innovative French printmaker, draughtsman and Symbolist painter. In the 1860s he formed a close friendship with the printmaker Rodolphe Bresdin and from him learned the craft of engraving and etching. Redon was noted for his large, highly original charcoal drawings, which he called his Noirs. They evoke a mysterious world of subjective, often melancholic fantasy. In 1879 he published his first album of lithographs, Dans le rêve. In the 1890s he increasingly used pastels and oils, and in 1899 he exhibited at Paul Durand-Ruel’s gallery with the Nabis. In the decade preceding his death, Redon’s work attracted increasing recognition and appreciation. He died in Paris in 1913.
The representation of subjects or ideas by use of a device or motif to create underlying meaning. A literary and artistic movement that originated in France and spread through much of Europe in the late nineteenth century. There was no consistent style but rather an appeal to the idea of the artist as mystic or visionary and the desire to express a world beyond superficial appearances.
A broad-ranging term covering the variety of painting styles that emerged in the wake of Impressionism in Europe, particularly in France. The most prominent artists to arise from the group are Georges Seurat, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.
A printmaking technique using a stone or zinc plate to which the image is applied with a greasy material. After wetting the plate, greasy ink is applied. The ink sticks only to the drawn image and not the wet surface, thus creating a reproduction when applied to paper.