GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Symbolist painter Odilon Redon was a contemporary of Claude Monet and other Impressionists; however, his artistic aims differed from theirs. His interest was not in recording the visible world around us, but the world of dreams and imagination, of mysticism and subjective experience. In this painting of an imaginary subject, a woman wearing a blue mantle takes the hand of a younger woman as if to impart secret knowledge. The muted tones and flat, patchy style give the canvas the appearance of an ancient fresco (plaster mural). Redon’s poetic and evocative canvases so captivated the organizers of the 1913 Armory Show in New York that they devoted an entire room to his work. This landmark exhibition, which also traveled to Chicago and Boston, provided many Americans with their first opportunity to see modern European art. Initiation to Study hung at the far right on the rear wall of the Redon Room at the New York show and was purchased by famous collector John Quinn.
Excerpt from
Nicole Myers, DMA label copy, 2017.
NOTES
c. 1905
Checked Piction
Label Copy:
The symbolist painter Redon was a contemporary of Monet and other impressionists, but his artistic aims differed from theirs. His interest was not in the phenomenon of the visual world, but in the world of dreams and imagination, of mysticism and flights of fancy. In this picture of an imaginary but seemingly ancient event, a young woman wearing a symbolic mantle takes the hand of an even younger woman as if to impart some secret truth. Redon's poetic and evocative canvases so captivated the organizers of the 1913 Armory Show in New York that they devoted an entire room to his work. This landmark exhibition, which also traveled to Chicago and Boston, provided many Americans with a first opportunity to see modern European art. "Initiation to Study", which hung at the far right on the rear wall of the Redon Room at the New York show, attracted the attention of the famous collector John Quinn, who bought the painting for $675.
Museum of Europe Label Text
August 1993
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: France (nation): TGN: 1000070
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Musée d'Orsay, Paris~Learn more about Odilon Redon and his work from the Musee d'Orsay.
- Vimeo~Watch this video of Dr. Ted Gott presenting a paper comparing Odilon Redon to English poet and artist William Blake.
- New York Historical Society Museum and Library~Learn more about the Armory Show of 1913.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1963.80.FA
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
The Symbolist painter Odilon Redon was a contemporary of Claude Monet and other Impressionists; however, his artistic aims differed from theirs. His interest was not in recording the visible world around us, but the world of dreams and imagination, of mysticism and subjective experience. In this painting of an imaginary subject, a woman wearing a blue mantle takes the hand of a younger woman as if to impart secret knowledge. The muted tones and flat, patchy style give the canvas the appearance of an ancient fresco (plaster mural). Redon’s poetic and evocative canvases so captivated the organizers of the 1913 Armory Show in New York that they devoted an entire room to his work. This landmark exhibition, which also traveled to Chicago and Boston, provided many Americans with their first opportunity to see modern European art. Initiation to Study hung at the far right on the rear wall of the Redon Room at the New York show and was purchased by famous collector John Quinn.
Excerpt from
Nicole Myers, DMA label copy, 2017.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Musée d'Orsay, Paris~Learn more about Odilon Redon and his work from the Musee d'Orsay.
- Vimeo~Watch this video of Dr. Ted Gott presenting a paper comparing Odilon Redon to English poet and artist William Blake.
- New York Historical Society Museum and Library~Learn more about the Armory Show of 1913.
Notes
c. 1905
Checked Piction
Label Copy:
The symbolist painter Redon was a contemporary of Monet and other impressionists, but his artistic aims differed from theirs. His interest was not in the phenomenon of the visual world, but in the world of dreams and imagination, of mysticism and flights of fancy. In this picture of an imaginary but seemingly ancient event, a young woman wearing a symbolic mantle takes the hand of an even younger woman as if to impart some secret truth. Redon's poetic and evocative canvases so captivated the organizers of the 1913 Armory Show in New York that they devoted an entire room to his work. This landmark exhibition, which also traveled to Chicago and Boston, provided many Americans with a first opportunity to see modern European art. "Initiation to Study", which hung at the far right on the rear wall of the Redon Room at the New York show, attracted the attention of the famous collector John Quinn, who bought the painting for $675.
Museum of Europe Label Text
August 1993
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: France (nation): TGN: 1000070
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1963.80.FA
source file
object_notes_2_c-0021.xml.nores