# Flower Clouds

**Odilon Redon** (French, 1840–1916)  
c. 1903  
Pastel, with touches of stumping, incising, and brushwork, on blue-gray wove paper with multi-colored fibers altered to tan, perimeter mounted to cardboard  
44.5 × 54.2 cm (17 9/16 × 21 3/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1990.165. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/76395).

## About this work

Two figures drift in a small sailboat beneath clouds that bloom into brilliant, flower-like colour, a scene that seems to belong to dream rather than to any real voyage. Odilon Redon spent the first decades of his career working almost entirely in black, in the charcoal drawings and lithographs he called his ‘noirs’, before turning in the 1890s to pastel and radiant colour. The boat, a recurring motif in his late work, suggests a spiritual journey, and the pastel, worked with stumping and incising, glows against the blue-grey paper.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Odilon Redon painted this in about 1903, aged about 58. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

Pastel drawing of two figures in a sailboat, bright multi-colored clouds.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Pastel.** Sticks of almost pure pigment with very little binder. The colour sits on the paper as powder: bright, matte and fragile.

### [Odilon Redon](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/odilon-redon)

French, 1840–1916; born in Bordeaux; died in Paris

Redon spent three decades working almost entirely in black: charcoal drawings he called his “noirs” and albums of lithographs peopled with floating eyes, strange plants and dreamlike heads, which made him a hero of the Symbolist writers. In the 1890s he turned to colour, and his later pastels and oils of flowers, myths and visions glow with intense hues. He was close to Mallarmé and admired by the young Nabis.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawing and Watercolor
- Culture: France
- The artist was about 58
- Real size: about 17 × 21 in (44 × 54 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/post-impressionism)
- Subjects: mysteries/fantasies, transportation, water, Post-Impressionism
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/194.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/194/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/flower-clouds-aic-76395).