# Symbolic Head

**Odilon Redon** (French, 1840–1916)  
c. 1890  
oil on paper mounted on canvas  
Framed: 69 x 54.5 x 7.5 cm (27 3/16 x 21 7/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 53.3 x 38 cm (21 x 14 15/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1988.91. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1988.91).

## About this work

One of Redon’s favorite themes was a head depicted in profile, sometimes separated from the body to symbolize the spirit released from the material world. It also suggests a metaphor for abandoning physical reality for the inner realm of dreams, fantasy, and poetic reverie. This painting conveys the idea of inward-turning vision by framing the head in a series of collapsing rectangles. Conservation analysis confirms that the figure is a woman wearing a helmet and holding a green staff in her right hand.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Odilon Redon painted this in about 1890, aged about 45. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [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: Painting
- Culture: France, 19th century
- The artist was about 45
- Real size: about 21 × 15 in (53 × 38 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/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/745.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/745/1920.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
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

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/symbolic-head-cma-154283).