Redon

Exploring the mysteries of the subconscious The grandfather of surrealism "My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as doesmusic, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined." —Redon In reaction to the "narrow-mindedness" of his fellow artists, symbolistpainter Odilon Redon (1840-1916) sought to open the door on the invisible.Art, according to the theories of the symbolist movement, should "add tohuman beauty the nimbus of thought." In his studio, Redon would dedicatehis energies, like an alchemist, to the creation of his "black pictures,"those barely tangible charcoal drawings teeming with fantasy figures.Gradually, color took hold in his works and Redon applied it with aboldness and imagination that heralded the exprerimental approach ofmodernism and surrealism. Fallen angels and deformed monsters gave way to acompletely different vision that was radiant and serene: the triumph oflight over darkness.