Une longue chrysalide couleur de sang (A longchrysalis, the color of blood)
1889
Medium
lithograph
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.7380
Art Historical Context
Odilon Redon's *Une longue chrysal couleur de sang* (A Long Chrysalis, the Color of Blood), created in 1889, is a haunting lithograph from the artist's pivotal "Noirs" period. Redon, a leading French Symbolist, masterfully used this printmaking technique—drawing with greasy crayon on limestone to produce subtle gradations of tone—to evoke dreamlike visions that blur the line between reality and the subconscious. The title hints at a elongated, blood-red chrysalis, symbolizing metamorphosis, mystery, and perhaps the eerie beauty of transformation amid life's darker forces. Symbolism, Redon's m...
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...