Provenance
Ambroise Vollard (1867-1939). Henri Petiet (1894-1980), Paris, by March 1940 [according to Wildenstein 1992]; sold to the Art Institute, 1950.
Accession Number
90289
Medium
Charcoal and black chalk with black pastel, stumping, scraping and erasing, and traces of brown charcoal(?), on ivory wove paper, discolored to cream
Dimensions
31.8 × 21.5 cm (12 9/16 × 8 1/2 in.)
Classification
charcoal
Credit Line
David Adler Collection
Background & Context
Background Story
Odilon Redon's Sketch of Trees (1890/99) is a charcoal and black chalk with black pastel drawing on ivory wove paper. This later work shows Redon turning to a more natural subject, trees, though treated with his characteristic atmospheric sensibility. The trees are rendered with stumping, scraping, and erasing, their forms emerging from and dissolving into the surrounding darkness.
Cultural Impact
Redon's later charcoal drawings show him applying his noir technique to more natural subjects while maintaining his atmospheric sensibility.
Why It Matters
This sketch of trees shows Redon applying his charcoal technique to a natural subject with characteristic atmosphere.
Related Artworks
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Then There Appears a Singular Being, Having the Head of a Man On the Body of a Fish, plate 5 of 10
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Cover-Frontispiece for the Temptation of St. Anthony
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Ophelia
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