Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau was a French Symbolist painter known for richly ornamented mythological scenes, biblical figures, and detailed oil and watercolor paintings.
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 oils and pastels in the 1890s, often with dreamlike themes.
| Full name | Bertrand Jean Redon |
|---|---|
| Born | 1840 · Bordeaux, France |
| Died | 1916 · Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Movements | Symbolism |
| Paint types | Oil Paint |
| Other media | Soft pastel, charcoal, lithography, and mixed charcoal-and-pastel work on paper |
| Other materials | — |
| 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 |
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 by Odilon Redon
Redon used oil on canvas for imaginative late paintings; his charcoal and pastel works are separate dry-media practices rather than paint types.
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Oil paint
Redon used oil for dreamlike images such as Pandora, a figure set within a richly colored, stylized landscape. The medium allows deep, layered color to surround the subject without giving the scene a strictly naturalistic setting. Museum records document oil on canvas for the painting.
Sources: National Gallery of Art: Pandora.; MoMA: Jacob and the Angel; The Met: Pandora
Painting surfaces used by Odilon Redon
Documented works by Odilon Redon use Canvas, Paper, with examples below clarifying when a material is a painted ground, backing, or constructed element.
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Canvas
Redon’s oil paintings, including The Chariot of Apollo and Pandora, are documented on canvas. The support carries his luminous, symbolic scenes and richly colored figures, distinct from the charcoal and pastel works on paper that preceded his later color paintings.
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Paper
Redon’s drawings and pastels, including the Met’s Madame Arthur Fontaine, are on paper. This sheet-based practice includes the charcoal and pastel works for which he first became known; it differs from the oil canvases that mark his later move into color.
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.
Painters similar to Odilon Redon
Moreau painted Symbolist myths and visions, while Redon developed distinct charcoal and pastel imagery that later opened into luminous color.