GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In this intimate lithograph, Odilon Redon portrays Helene, a pretty young courtesan. Wearing a veil and turning her head to the right, she stands in front of an indistinct backdrop. Silent women with closed eyes recur in Redon's work as sleepers, dreamers, or visionaries. Helene, a principle figure in the pagan religion of Simonism, was said to be the reincarnation of Ennoia, the female half of God and Mother of the earth. She breathed thought into the gods, angels, and man. Symbolists strove to portray the unique human capacity of thought. No doubt Redon reveled in finding a narrative within history to embody this attribute.
Redon was a prolific lithographer, producing more than two hundred print editions. The dense modulations from light to dark behind Helene are Redon's device for creating an opaque, ethereal aura around this personification of thought. This composition's ambiguity mirrors the liminal space Symbolist art represents, neither factual nor unintelligible.
Excerpt from
Brittany Luberda, DMA label copy, 2010.
NOTES
Created 1896
Checked Piction
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.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1977.58.FA
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General Description
In this intimate lithograph, Odilon Redon portrays Helene, a pretty young courtesan. Wearing a veil and turning her head to the right, she stands in front of an indistinct backdrop. Silent women with closed eyes recur in Redon's work as sleepers, dreamers, or visionaries. Helene, a principle figure in the pagan religion of Simonism, was said to be the reincarnation of Ennoia, the female half of God and Mother of the earth. She breathed thought into the gods, angels, and man. Symbolists strove to portray the unique human capacity of thought. No doubt Redon reveled in finding a narrative within history to embody this attribute.
Redon was a prolific lithographer, producing more than two hundred print editions. The dense modulations from light to dark behind Helene are Redon's device for creating an opaque, ethereal aura around this personification of thought. This composition's ambiguity mirrors the liminal space Symbolist art represents, neither factual nor unintelligible.
Excerpt from
Brittany Luberda, DMA label copy, 2010.
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.
Notes
Created 1896
Checked Piction
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
1977.58.FA
source file
object_notes_2_b-0482.xml.nores