Oil Paint
Oil paint is a slow-drying art medium made with pigment and a drying-oil binder that allows extended working time, smooth blending, and layered application.
Painter
Odilon Redon
Odilon Redon was a French Symbolist painter known for mysterious dream imagery, dark charcoal drawings, richly colored pastels, and luminous oil paintings.
Odilon Redon quick facts
Redon first developed shadowy charcoal images known as the noirs, then turned toward luminous oil paintings and pastels during the 1890s.
| Born | 1840 · Bordeaux, France |
|---|---|
| Died | 1916 · Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Movements | Symbolism |
| Paint types | Oil Paint |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Paper |
| Painting methods | Atmospheric oil layering and color contrasts; charcoal stumping and luminous pastel powder built up on paper in separate works |
| Common subjects | Floating eyes, dream figures, mythical beings, flowers, portraits, and horses in imagined skies |
| Notable works | The Chariot of Apollo · Pandora · Madame Arthur Fontaine · Bouquet of Flowers |
| Other art media | Soft pastel, charcoal, lithography, and mixed charcoal-and-pastel work on paper |
Sources: Getty: Odilon Redon biography, The Met: The Chariot of Apollo (oil on canvas), The Met: Madame Arthur Fontaine (pastel on paper), Musée d’Orsay: Redon and pastels.
Paint types used
Redon painted imaginative scenes and flowers in oil, while his well-known pastels and charcoal drawings used dry media rather than liquid paint.
Surface types used
Redon used canvas for later oil paintings and paper for his delicate pastels, charcoal drawings, and prints.
Canvas
Canvas is a woven fabric support, commonly cotton or linen, used for painting and sold either raw or prepared with a compatible ground layer.
Paper
Paper is an absorbent sheet material made from pressed fibers, with weight, sizing, and surface texture controlling moisture tolerance and paint behavior.
Painters similar to Odilon Redon
Moreau also painted Symbolist myths and visions, though Redon developed a distinct body of charcoal and pastel imagery.
Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau was a French Symbolist painter known for richly ornamented mythological scenes, biblical figures, and detailed oil and watercolor paintings.