The Beasts of the Sea, Round Like Leather Bottles, plate 22 of 24
1896
Medium
Lithograph in black on gray China paper laid down on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Image/chine: 26.1 × 19.4 cm (10 5/16 × 7 11/16 in.); Sheet: 45.5 × 34.9 cm (17 15/16 × 13 3/4 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
106660
Art Historical Context
Odilon Redon's *The Beasts of the, Round Like Leather Bottles* (plate 22 of 24), created in 1896, visitors into the dreamlike realm of Symbolism. Redon, a pioneering French artist, was renowned for his "Noirs"—monochromatic works blending fantasy and the subconscious. This lithograph, part of his album *Les Origines*, ethereal sea creatures with bulbous, leather-bottle forms, evoking a poetic underwater world where nature morphs into the surreal. Its whimsical title draws from literary inspiration, capturing Redon's fascination with the mysterious origins of life. Printed in black ink on deli...
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...