Cover from The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1st series)
1888
Medium
Lithograph in black on white wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 19.7 × 14 cm (7 13/16 × 5 9/16 in.); Sheet: 35.7 × 27.2 cm (14 1/16 × 10 3/4 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
79436
Art Historical Context
Odilon Redon's *Cover from The Temptation Saint Anthony (1st)*, created in 1888, the French Symbolist's fascination with the mystical and macabre. This lithograph from Gustave Flaubert's 1874 novel of the same name, which vividly depicts the desert hermit Saint Anthony besieged by demonic visions and temptations. Redon, a pioneer of Symbolism, produced several series of prints inspired by the book during his "Noirs" period (the 1870s–1890s), using black monochrome to evoke dreamlike reveries and the subconscious—hallmarks of the movement that bridged Impressionism and Surrealism. Printed in b...
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...