The Inner Explorer Symbolism Artist Odilon Redon

Odilon Redon [Photo provided : Wikipedia]

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Name : Odilon Redon

Birth : April 20th 1840

Death : July 6th 1916

Nationality : France

Style : Symboliosm

Representative works : ‘The Smiling Spider’ ‘Cactus Man’ ‘Bouquet of Flowers’ The Cyclops

Edvar Munch is often mentioned as a painter who sublimated sorrow into art in an unfavorable environment. Perhaps because of this the atmosphere of the work as a whole is dark and even bizarre and there is a French artist who was abandoned by his parents in a poor environment as soon as he was born. In todays painting the symbolism artist Odilon Redon who expresses the unfortunate inner side as an unusual object will be introduced.

Born in Bordeaux France Redon was born as the second son of a family with poor circumstances. Redons parents thought that it was difficult to raise their two children together and sent Redon who was only two days old to Medoc where his nearby uncle lives.
Even though he was raised by his uncle it was hard to expect affection as much as his biological parents. Redon who had to spend most of his childhood alone learned arts and physical education by himself. Due to the introverted personality he liked to paint lonely and often traveled to the inner world early on.

Redon did not have parents but there was quite a helping hand around him. On the recommendation of his uncle he learned how to play the violin and at the age of 15 he opened his eyes to art in earnest and learned paintings of romantic painters such as Goya and Delacroix from watercolor artist Gorin. In addition he was also interested in plants and zoology after reading the book Origin of Species which became the basis of black art which later revealed the artistic characteristics of Redon.

Between 1879 and 1899 the so-called Black Age many works were made which seemed to revealed the exact inner world of Redon. Of course similar works were painted before but black works appeared in earnest as they moved to Paris after the Franco-Prussian War.

Redon who learned lithography from Henri Fangtin Latour was influenced by the dark atmosphere of Goya and Rembrandts works. Starting with Guardian Spirit of the Waters the black art reached its peak in 1881. His major works of 1881 include Smiling Spider The Cactus Man The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts toward Infinity Head on a Stem and Caliban.

Redon said that the origin of his black art came from his childhood which was full of silence and imagination. It was the so-called Source of sad art. It was hard for him to accept the fact that he was abandoned by his parents. The strange form of creatures born in such sadness the mixture of animals plants and etc are huge differences from the existing symbolism.

In fact it is difficult to interpret the works because they are so unique but the critics at the time said it was more important to accept Redons work as it is than to interpret it. It is the dark feeling that can be felt by an artist who spent an unfortunate childhood. Feeling of being abandoned is something that anyone can have and must have experienced at least once.

Of course Redon did not just draw these gloomy paintings for his lifetime. Starting with Closed Eyes in 1890 the colors of Redons works began to be changed significantly. The woman in the picture is Camille Falte the wife of Redon. Camille devotedly assisted Redon and helped calm Redon psychologically. Perhaps the change in the style of Redons works was caused by his marriage with Camille.

Since then Redon became a magician of color as if there was not a black era. From his work Bouquet of Flowers in 1905 he focused on colorful works as if he would use up all the colors he had not used until the end of his life. The work The Cyclops in 1914 is a painting that combines colorful colors with the bizarreness of the black age.
Many people say that life is supposed to come and go alone. However at a young age the existence of the parents who gave birth to the one has a huge impact on the happiness of the persons life. Although Redon grew up without the help of his parents he was able to touch the wounds of his childhood late in time thanks to his wife he met later. I hope adults do not present loneliness to their children from childhood.

Website: : http://cms.wip-news.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=7489