Symbolic Head
Medium
oil on paper mounted on canvas
Dimensions
unframed: 53.3 × 38 cm · framed: 69 × 54.5 × 7.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of the Mildred Andrews Fund
Accession Number
1988.91
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
One of Redon’s favorite themes was a head depicted in profile, sometimes separated from the body to symbolize the spirit released from the material world. It also suggests a metaphor for abandoning physical reality for the inner realm of dreams, fantasy, and poetic reverie. This painting conveys the idea of inward-turning vision by framing the head in a series of collapsing rectangles. Conservation analysis confirms that the figure is a woman wearing a helmet and holding a green staff in her rig...