During our last art portfolio class, we talked
about Odilon Redon. We viewed several of his paintings, his biography, people
he drew inspiration from and how his paintings have evolved over time. This was
a very informing as we had the chance to explore an artist and his life in
greater depth. The structure of the class was less interactive than usual as a
means of preparing us for university lectures in the future.
We followed a 30-minute-long
video talking about Odilon Redon and we had to take notes. I found this very valuable
as we had the opportunity to see how lectures will be in university. However,
even though we are used to a different style of learning, I did not find this
style hard to follow as I am used to concentrating and taking notes in class. I
used my laptop to type in my notes during the lecture and I will be using that as a guide for today’s
blog.
Odilon Redon was born in Bordeaux, France on
the 20th of April 1980 and died on the 6th of July 1916
when he was 76 years old. He was named Odilon after his mother Odile.
He started drawing when he was 10 years old and
he won a drawing prize at school. At the age of 15, he started his formal
studying of art but his father insisted that he should study architecture. Redon
failed to pass his entry exams at Paris’ Ecole des Beaux- Arts, therefore, he
could not become an architect. He had the opportunity to study painting at Paris’
Ecole des Beaux- Arts for a short period of time, with Jean- Leon Gerome being
his teacher in 1864, before he failed his exams. Gerome was a highly academic
painter, specifically known for orientalism. After failing his exams, he
started sculpting, etching and lithography.
In 1871, his artistic career was interrupted as
he had to serve in the army in the Franco-Prussian war. At the end of 1871, he
moved back to Paris to continue his artistic career by using charcoal and
lithography. Redons work started gaining recognition in 1878 when he painted
the ‘Guardian spirit of the waters’. Redon was relatively known by 1884 as he was
featured in a novel by Joris- Karl Huysmans. In the book, J.K. Huysmann inserted
several of Redons paintings.
In 1890’s
he started focusing more on oil, pastel paintings which dominated the rest of
his life.
In the following space, I will be analysing
some of Redon’s paintings in a chronological order. This will allow me to see
how Redon’s work changed over time, how the materials and style he uses changed
and how he evolved as a person.
This piece was created in 1876
using charcoal and pastels. He uses strokes to create texture and seamlessly
blends one colours into the other. A recurring theme in Redon’s work is the severed
head which is seen in this painting. Strong pigments with various colours are
seen in this drawing which is something unusual in Redon’s work. Even though
the theme he portrays is dark, the colours used manage to make it less
uncomfortable and disturbing to the viewer. Specifically, the colour blue
stands out as it is very vibrant and pigmented.
In comparison to the previous painting, the painting is kept monochromatic, with the absence of any colour. In 1870 he served in the army in the Franco-Prussian war which might have been a scarring experience for him. That was a pivotal moment in his life as we notice that the paintings following that war had a dark theme with dark colours. This possibly reflected on how he was feeling at the time.
The recurring theme of the severed head was also depicted in this image, adding a human head in a flower. The surrounding of the flower is very plain, making the flower the focal point of the image.
In my opinion, the head of the flower looks more like a baby's face. The features like the eyes, nose and mouth resemble a baby. Looking into the spiritual meaning of the flower, it symbolises 'life'. Therefore, Redon might have added the baby's face onto a flower to symbolise the life the baby has ahead of him.
This painting was created using charcoal and white pencil. A creature is seen on this painting also known as the 'spirit of the forest'. The spirit has his head tilted and his hands on the hips. The hands-on-hips pose is a universal gesture to show that the person is ready for assertive action. His body language makes me question if he is gatekeeping something valuable, trying to stop everyone from entering.
In my opinion, the body of the spirit is only bones as Redon had just finished serving in the army in war. The image of the dead bodies he had seen in war might have been a very scarring experience which made him eager to create something equally as scaring and uncomfortable in his own painting. It is evident that the war really affected Redon's mental health and inevitably his work too.
The eye is looking up, giving the viewer a hint towards which direction they are heading. Something I greatly admire in Redon's work is that it is open for interpretation. Every viewer might interpret his paintings in a different approach.
Redon was serving at war which makes me imagine that all of his paintings shortly after the war were linked to that. I can imagine the painting being one of the soldiers head on the plate which rises towards heaven, guided by the eye.
In 1900, he created this painting. In contrast to the previous paintings, both the theme and the colours drastically changed. This might insinuate that Redon evolved as a person, matured and is now over the trauma that the war caused. His following paintings hint that he was in a better mental state than previously. The recurring severed head theme is not depicted in this painting as we can see the shoulders of Ophelia underneath the water. He uses various vibrant colours for this painting. The surrounding flowers make the image very magical.
This painting is one of my favourite ones that Redon created. This painting depicts a woman standing over a river. The woman looks into the water to view her reflection. However, the title 'reflection' might have a more literal meaning as the woman might be reflecting on her life and actions. The mood of the image seems to be sombre as the predominant colour of the picture is blue. Blue is usually associated with sadness which might be the emotion depicted in this picture. The woman is slightly slouching, suggesting that she might be feeling sad.
In this painting, we notice that the head and figure theme is completely gone as he decided to draw a shell. This was very unusual for Redon. The shell is a belonging of his wife which makes it very valuable to him. He used bright colours for the shell and darker colours for the background to create contrast. He also outlined some parts of the shell using black lines which is a new technique in Redon's work as he usually creates softer outlines.
Even though Redon inspired many artists, I couldn't think of a product designer that took inspiration from him. One known product that reminded me of Redon's work was the Diode lamp by Marc Newson. This reminds me of 'figure holding a winged head' as it has the circular shape of the moon and is covered with the fluorescent blue colour that is shown in the painting.
In conclusion, I enjoyed this lesson as I had the opportunity to look into an artists life in great depth. It gave me insights on why his work was created and what materials he usually used. I like viewing other artists artwork as I can interpret it in my own unique way. In the next blog posts, I am definitely planning on including more research of various artists.
References:
Make sure you cite your quotations in the text properly. You found an interesting link to March Newsom's work - it would have been good to have heard more about what you think of Redon's work and ways in which it might influence your project. Did you consider if or how Redon used the colour purple in his work? Also don't forget that 'haze' is the other word in your theme - is that a word that applies to any of Redon's work?
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