Odilon Redon

Odilon Redon
Photograph, around 1880
Born	Bertrand Redon (1840-04-20)20 April 1840 Bordeaux, France
Died	6 July 1916(1916-07-06) (aged 76) Paris, France
Education	Atelier of Jean-Léon Gérôme
Known for	Painting, printmaking, drawing
Movement	Post-impressionism, symbolism
Spouse	Camille Falte
Children	1

Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; French: [ɔdilɔ̃ ʁədɔ̃]; 20 April 1840 – 6 July 1916) was a French Symbolist artist.

Early in his career, both before and after fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, Redon worked almost exclusively in charcoal and lithography, works known as his noirs. He gained recognition after his drawings were mentioned in the 1884 novel À rebours (Against Nature) by Joris-Karl Huysmans. During the 1890s, Redon began working in pastel and oil, which quickly became his favorite medium, abandoning his previous style of noirs completely after 1900. He developed a keen interest in Hindu and Buddhist religion and culture, which increasingly showed in his work.

Redon is perhaps best known today for the dreamlike paintings created in the first decade of the 20th century, which were inspired by Japanese art and leaned toward abstraction. His work is considered a precursor to Surrealism.