Closed Eyes
1890
Medium
Lithograph in green on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 21.8 × 18.3 cm (8 5/8 × 7 1/4 in.); Sheet: 53 × 37.3 cm (20 7/8 × 14 11/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
106600
Art Historical Context
Odilon Redon's *Closed Eyes* (189) invites visitors into the ethereal realm of Symbolism, a movement that prized imagination and the subconscious over the visible world. Redon, a French artist renowned for his visionary "Noirs" series of brooding, monochromatic prints, here employs a delicate lithograph in soft green tones on ivory wove paper. Created during a pivotal shift in his career toward color, this work captures a serene, closed-eyed figure—evoking introspection, dreams, and the mysteries of the inner mind. At 21.8 × 18.3 cm, its intimate scale draws the viewer close, mirroring the pri...
About the Artist
Odilon Redon · 1840–1916
Odilon Redon (1840-1916) was a French Symbolist painter, printmaker, and pastellist whose visionary art bridged the 19th-century Symbolist movement and 20th-century Surrealism. Born Bertrand Redon in Bordeaux on April 20, 1840, he earned the nickname "Odilon" from his mother Odile. His father, who made his fortune in the Louisiana slave trade, conceived Odilon in New Orleans before the family retu...