Perversity
1891
Medium
Etching and drypoint on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 15.9 × 12.5 cm (6 5/16 × 4 15/16 in.); Plate: 21 × 15.5 cm (8 5/16 × 6 1/8 in.); Sheet: 36 × 27.5 cm (14 3/16 × 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
106586
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Regarded as a major contributor to the Symbolist movement in 19th-century France, Odilon Redon produced over 30 etchings and 170 lithographs during his lifetime. Originally attracted to printmaking as a method for distributing his charcoal drawings, Noirs (Blacks), he became enamored with the medium because of its possibilities for depth of value. Much of his imagery reveals a murky, mysterious environment; the subject is usually surrounded by an atmosphere of darkness.
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...