id: 108397 accession number: 1926.140.3 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1926.140.3 updated: 2024-03-26 01:57:05.731000 The Apocalypse of Saint John: And His Name That Sat on Him Was Death, 1899. Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916), printed by Blanchard, published by Ambroise Vollard (French, 1867–1939). Lithograph; image: 31 x 22.5 cm (12 3/16 x 8 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Ralph King 1926.140.3 title: And His Name That Sat on Him Was Death title in original language: series: The Apocalypse of Saint John series in original language: creation date: 1899 creation date earliest: 1899 creation date latest: 1899 current location: creditline: Gift of Ralph King copyright: --- culture: France, late 19th Century technique: lithograph department: Prints collection: PR - Lithograph type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Mellerio 176 --- CREATORS * Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916) - artist A leader of the symbolist movement in France, Odilon Redon was born in Bordeaux in 1840 and grew up in the surrounding region. During his early years he studied drawing, architecture, and the violin. A friendship with Armand Clavaud, a local botanist and philosopher, stimulated Redon's passion for romantic art and literature. In 1864, after a brief and discouraging period of instruction with Gérôme in Paris, Redon returned to Bordeaux, where he studied printmaking with Rodolphe Bresdin (1825-1885). Deploring the emphasis on rational, phenomenal experience in academic and naturalist art, Redon turned for inspiration to the imaginative paintings of Delacroix, the prints of Francisco José de Goya (1746-1828), and the poetry of Charles Baudelaire. In 1870, after military service in the Franco-Prussian War, Redon settled in Paris and produced his first Noirs. These visionary images, featuring floating eyes and severed heads born aloft on wings, reflect Redon's belief in the superiority of the imagination and fantasy, which he considered "the messenger of the unconscious." After producing his initial Noirs in charcoal, Redon discovered a method of transferring his drawings to lithography in 1876. Throughout the 1880s he continued to use charcoal, etching, and lithography as his primary media, and he produced twelve lithography albums before abandoning the genre in the late 1890s. During the 1880s Redon emerged as a leader of the symbolist reaction against impressionism. The publication in 1879 of his first lithographic album, Dans le rêve, followed by his first solo exhibition in 1881, attracted the admiration of J. K. Huysmans, who included illustrations by Redon in his novel À rebours (1884). Around the same time, Redon developed a personal and artistic relationship with poet Stéphane Mallarmé. Increasingly drawn into the public arena, Redon helped organize the Société des Artistes Indépendants in 1884. In 1886 he participated in the last impressionist exhibition and began showing with Les XX in Brussels. Redon's antinaturalist, visionary, art inspired many symbolist and Nabi artists, including Gauguin and Vuillard. Maurice Denis praised Redon as "our Mallarmé," and in 1892 critic Albert Aurier described Redon as a leader of the new "idealistic" tendency in art. After 1890 the focus of Redon's activity shifted from monochromatic drawings and prints toward exploring color in richly worked pastels. His innovations in luminous color, as seen in the pastel and oil paintings he exhibited at the Galeries Durand-Ruel in 1900 were greatly admired by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and the Fauves. Awarded the Legion of Honor in 1903, Redon continued his leadership role in the avant-garde and in 1904 became a founding member of the Salon d'Automne. In 1913 forty of his works were selected for exhibition in the Armory Show, the most by any artist. Redon died at his home in Paris in the summer of 1916. * Blanchard - printer * Ambroise Vollard (French, 1867–1939) - publisher French art dealer and publisher, 1867-1939 --- measurements: Image: 31 x 22.5 cm (12 3/16 x 8 7/8 in.) state of the work: I/I edition of the work: edition of 100 support materials: description: China paper watermarks: description: wove paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: Initialed in stone at lower right: OR; printed at lower left, below image: ......et celui qui était monté dessus se nommait la Mort, translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Charles Meryon, Odilon Redon, and Rodolphe Bresdin opening date: 1978-10-01T04:00:00 Charles Meryon, Odilon Redon, and Rodolphe Bresdin. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 1, 1978-April 1, 1979). title: Odilon Redon: Dream Creatures and Anemones opening date: 1984-08-21T04:00:00 Odilon Redon: Dream Creatures and Anemones. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 21-October 14, 1984). title: From Block Books to Baskin: Artists as Illustrators opening date: 1986-05-13T04:00:00 From Block Books to Baskin: Artists as Illustrators. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 13-August 17, 1986). title: Collecting Dreams: Odilon Redon opening date: 2021-09-19T04:00:00 Collecting Dreams: Odilon Redon. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 19, 2021-January 23, 2022). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Ralph King [1855-1926], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: ?-1926 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1926- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1926.140.3/1926.140.3_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1926.140.3/1926.140.3_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1926.140.3/1926.140.3_full.tif