Odilon Redon French Symbolist Painter- Come Peek Into His Fantastical World!

Hello and welcome to all who love and admire the beauty this world has to offer!

Today I'd like to bring your attention to Odilon Redon, a fantastical painter who lived in France at the turn of the 20th century (1840-1916).

His work encompasses everything I love about art- the color, subjects, and compostition of his works appeal to me deeply. His early work produced eerie creatures that pique my interest for the unknown and terrifying, while his later work hits me on a much holier level. Here's a quote pertaining to his work:
Read more here:www.musee-orsay.fr...

He painted the flower: he discovered it.
Amazed to the point of anxiety by the shades of the flower, astonished to the point of a most naïve adoration of its form, he was soon struck by the revelation that nothing is more mysterious than nature itself, and from that moment he became absorbed in its clarity just as he had plumbed the deep recesses of his imagination. He painted flowers exactly as we know them and just as we see them: geraniums amongst velvety leaves, marguerites, quivering clumps of acacia, orange wallflowers and nasturtiums, and with their slender stems bursting forth, their dazzling corollas fixed, and their sparkling nuances of colour suspended in time, it seemed as if these flowers had just appeared before our very eyes, through a miracle. When we look at them, we too emerge from the shadows.

Now for the art! Let me know what you think, friends.
Here are a few examples of his early charcoal works:






And now for his spectacular and sumptuous later work!









So I think I have a new favortite artist to study for a while. Any one else love his work? Hate it? Care to discuss?
Peace and love to all. Have the best day possible under your particular circumstances!

a reply to: zosimov

Pretty awesome work. Great color. Really nice.

He really knows how to draw ones eye.

a reply to: TheAlleghenyGentleman

Thanks for checking it out! I agree the colors are phenomenal.

Funny you used the words to draw one's eye.. the eyes he draws are so predominant and strange (in the early sketches) both disturbing, mad, and pitiful at the same time. Interesting!

a reply to: zosimov

This stuff is super creepy, I love it.

a reply to: ColdWisdom

I totally agree-- love his creepy inventions!

Some interesting pieces. I love the skeletal dude with the branches coming out of his head and a few others.

a reply to: zosimov

Reminds me of some of the artwork found in these books I read as a child. Very to the bone creepy and I would put this all over my home!!

a reply to: JinMI

Ahhh! I loved those as a kid! Nice.

a reply to: TheAlleghenyGentleman

Classics! We had a book fair every fall and spring in elementary school. When I got one of them from the order, there were a few awkward looks in my direction. I've never stopped loving those looks!

a reply to: JinMI

Ha! I still have those on my shelves..
His work totally reminded me of these illustrations too. Good call!

a reply to: Night Star

I love that one too, Night Star! It is actually a kind of cute/creepy being, imo.. I like him
Thanks for checking it out!