Collecting Dreams: Odilon Redon
Odilon Redon was referred to as 鈥渢he prince of mysterious dreams鈥 by one art critic for his enigmatic and imaginative paintings, drawings, and prints that mined fantasy, literature, and the subconscious. The Cleveland Museum of Art was among the earliest American museums to collect pieces by this groundbreaking 19th-century French artist. Beginning nearly a century ago, in 1925, the institution鈥檚 early supporters made landmark donations of artworks by Redon, such as his darkly evocative lithograph Parsifal and his pastel masterpiece Orpheus鈥攄escribed by one art historian as the artist鈥檚 finest work. These early acquisitions earned the CMA an international reputation as the most important repository of works by Redon outside France, and the museum continues to augment its remarkable collection to this day.
Collecting Dreams: Odilon Redon celebrates the CMA鈥檚 exceptional holdings by Redon, including a newly acquired charcoal drawing. It also features one of the artist鈥檚 most significant late paintings, Andromeda (1912), a special loan from the Arkansas Art Center that was exhibited for the first time in the United States at the CMA in 1926, alongside the museum鈥檚 own works by Redon. Together, the objects on view reveal the legacy of this influential Post-Impressionist artist in Cleveland.
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Odilon Redon was referred to as 鈥渢he prince of mysterious dreams鈥 by one art critic for his enigmatic and imaginative paintings, drawings, and prints that mined fantasy, literature, and the subconscious. The Cleveland Museum of Art was among the earliest American museums to collect pieces by this groundbreaking 19th-century French artist. Beginning nearly a century ago, in 1925, the institution鈥檚 early supporters made landmark donations of artworks by Redon, such as his darkly evocative lithograph Parsifal and his pastel masterpiece Orpheus鈥攄escribed by one art historian as the artist鈥檚 finest work. These early acquisitions earned the CMA an international reputation as the most important repository of works by Redon outside France, and the museum continues to augment its remarkable collection to this day.
Collecting Dreams: Odilon Redon celebrates the CMA鈥檚 exceptional holdings by Redon, including a newly acquired charcoal drawing. It also features one of the artist鈥檚 most significant late paintings, Andromeda (1912), a special loan from the Arkansas Art Center that was exhibited for the first time in the United States at the CMA in 1926, alongside the museum鈥檚 own works by Redon. Together, the objects on view reveal the legacy of this influential Post-Impressionist artist in Cleveland.
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Odilon Redon (1840鈥1916) was known as 鈥渢he prince of mysterious dreams鈥 for creating paintings, drawings and prints that blend fantasy, literature and the subconscious.
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