Provenance
Sold by the artist to Ambroise Vollard (1867-1939), Paris, December 30, 1897. Henri Petiet (1894-1980), Paris, 1940; sold to the Art Institute, 1950.
Accession Number
90326
Medium
Various charcoals, with touches of black chalk and black Conté crayon, stumping, incising and erasing, on yellowish cream wove paper altered to a golden tone
Dimensions
40.4 × 33.2 cm (15 15/16 × 13 1/8 in.)
Classification
charcoal
Credit Line
David Adler Collection
Background & Context
Background Story
Odilon Redon's Strange Flower (Little Sister of the Poor) (1880) is a charcoal drawing showing a mysterious anthropomorphic flower. These strange flowers are among Redon's most famous creations, hybrid forms combining botanical and human elements. The title adds ironic tenderness to the strange image.
Cultural Impact
Redon's strange flowers are iconic images of Symbolist art.
Why It Matters
This charcoal drawing captures the unsettling beauty of Redon's hybrid botanical-human forms.
Related Artworks
And in the Very Disk of the Sun Lights the Face of Jesus Christ, plate 10 from The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1st series)
Odilon Redon
Then There Appears a Singular Being, Having the Head of a Man On the Body of a Fish, plate 5 of 10
Odilon Redon
Cover-Frontispiece for the Temptation of St. Anthony
Odilon Redon
Ophelia
Odilon Redon