Frontispiece for El Moghreb al Aksa by Edmond Picard

Art Historical Context

Odilon Redon's *Frontispiece for Eloghreb al Aksa* (1889) is a captivating lithograph created as the introductory image for Edmond Picard's travelogue about his adventures in Morocco, known as "the farthest Maghreb." This work exemplifies Redon's early mastery of Symbolism, a movement he helped pioneer in late 19th-century France. During this "noirs" period (roughly 1870–1895), Redon produced haunting, dreamlike black-and-white prints filled with ethereal visions, blending the real and the fantastical to evoke mystery and the subconscious—perfectly suiting Picard's exotic narrative of North African landscapes and cultures. Printed in black ink on delicate ivory China paper and laid down on ivory wove paper (image: 24.4 × 18.6 cm; sheet: 42.3 × 31.4 cm), the lithograph showcases Redon's virtuoso technique. Lithography, using greasy crayon on stone, allowed him to achieve subtle gradations of tone, soft textures, and shadowy depths that mimic charcoal drawings. This medium was ideal for book illustrations, enabling intricate details and moody atmospheres on thin, fine paper that enhanced the work's intimacy. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings department, this frontispiece not only highlights Redon's transition from printmaking to color later in his career but also captures the era's fascination with Orientalism and the unknown. Visitors will appreciate its poetic allure, inviting a journey into imagination as much as into Morocco's distant horizons.

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...