Odilon Redon (1840 – 1916)

Odilon Redon is a French painter, graphic artist and art critic, one of the founders of the Symbolism movement in paintings which is considered the forerunner of later artistic trends, such as Expressionism, Surrealism and even Dadaism. He is known for his works made with charcoal, the so-called “blacks” (“les noirs” as he called them), as well as bright pastel and oil paintings, which made him famous as a prominent colorist. Odilon Redon took part in the last exhibition of the Impressionists. Still, he did not seek to portray reality as it is, but always turned to the mystical and subconscious.

His paintings are extremely close to Expressionism and Surrealism both in their form and content, even though these artistic movements did not exist at that time. Therefore, many artists consider Redon’s work a precursor addressed to the human psyche and irrealism in art.