Landscape
Artist: Odilon Redon (French, 1840-1916)
Date: 1870-1875
Dimensions:
H: 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm); W: 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm)
Medium: Oil on paper laid onto board.
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds given by Thomas N. and Gill W. Bentley, Ann W. Hartmann and Frank Snug, and Dr. and Mrs. James G. Ravin, and with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey.
Object number: 2010.35
Label Text:Odilon Redon is often considered a precursor to the Surrealists for his strange subjects of disembodied eyes, human-headed plants, and amoeba-like creatures. Early in his career, however, Redon made small landscape oils of his home Peyrelebade, near the commune of Listrac Médoc, and the surrounding area near Bordeaux in southwest France. These images are enchanting, mysterious scenes in which time seems suspended, a pervasive silence dominates, and the skies are utterly luminous. A strong geometry controls his compositions, balancing architecture and nature.
Redon loved the region, as noted by his wife Camille, who was more enamored with all that Paris had to offer. She wrote of the locale: “The countryside is deadly sad; one must be Odilon Redon to take pleasure in it; here he is in his element: the sound of the wind singing in the pines enthralls him; his eye glistens with joy before the great lands, covered with broom [shrubs].”
Redon loved the region, as noted by his wife Camille, who was more enamored with all that Paris had to offer. She wrote of the locale: “The countryside is deadly sad; one must be Odilon Redon to take pleasure in it; here he is in his element: the sound of the wind singing in the pines enthralls him; his eye glistens with joy before the great lands, covered with broom [shrubs].”
On view
In Collection(s)