 |
| Odilon Redon |
| 1840-1916 |
| European Artist |
| Redon was a Symbolist painter, born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France. He started drawing as a young child, and at 15, began to study drawing but on the insistence of his father switched to architecture. Any career in architecture ended when he failed to pass the entrance exams at Paris’ École des Beaux-Arts but eventually he studied there under Jean-Léon Gerôme (1824-1904). He moved to Paris, working almost exclusively in charcoal and lithography. It would not be until 1878 before his work gained any recognition with Guardian Spirit of the Waters, and he published his first album of lithographs, titled Dans le Rêve, in 1879. In the 1890s, he began to use pastel and oils, which dominated his works for the rest of his life. In 1899, he exhibited with the Les Nabis at Durand-Ruel's. In 1903 he was awarded the Legion of Honor. |
|
