The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 22, 2024

Melancholy

Melancholy

c. 1868
(French, 1840–1916)
Sheet: 32.1 x 22 cm (12 5/8 x 8 11/16 in.)
Catalogue raisonné: Wildenstein 576
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Redon incorporated fantastical details into his mountainous landscape, including a small creature seen faintly directly above the woman and a profile that vaguely appears in the shadows next to her.

Description

Odilon Redon grew up near the massive Pyrénées mountains in southern France and their image recurred throughout his work. In a series of drawings made during the 1870s, Redon used the craggy surface and infinite reach of his native landscape to evoke a sense of solitude and isolation. The woman seen here, for example, leans forward and casts her eyes downward as if in resignation.
  • ?-1927
    (Kraushaar Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Print Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH)
    1927
    Print Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    1927-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Odilon Redon (1840–1916): Pastels and Drawings. Exh. cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1951. Mentioned: p. 17, no. 33
    Rewald, John. "Quelques notes et documents sur Odilon Redon." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 48 (November 1956): 81-124. Reproduced: p. 119
    Wildenstein, Alec. Odilon Redon, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint et dessiné. Paris: Wildenstein Institute, 1992. Mentioned: vol. I, p. 227, no. 576; Reproduced: p. 228
    Druick, Douglas W., Gloria Groom, Fred Leeman, Kevin Sharp, MaryAnne Stevens, Harriet K. Stratis, and Peter Kort Zegers. Odilon Redon: Prince of Dreams, 1840–1916. Exh. cat. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1994. Mentioned: p. 62-63, 436, no. 21; Reproduced: p. 62
  • Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-April 30, 2023).
    Collecting Dreams: Odilon Redon. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 19, 2021-January 23, 2022).
    Treasures on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 10-July 24, 1988).
    The Lessons of the Academy. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 8-May 29, 1983).
    Odilon Redon (1840–1916): Pastels and Drawings. Jacques Seligmann & Co., Inc., New York (October 22–November 10, 1951); Cleveland Museum of Art (November 29, 1951–January 20, 1952); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (February 1–March 1, 1952).
    Odilon Redon: Prince of Dreams 1840–1916. Art Institute of Chicago (July 2–September 18, 1994); Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (October 20, 1994–January 15, 1995); Royal Academy of Arts, London (February 16–May 21, 1995).
    40th Anniversary Exhibition of the Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 3, 1959-January 20, 1960).
    19th and 20th Century French Art and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Loans. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 1, 1943).
    Drawings from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-October 3, 1940).
    Drawings from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-April 28, 1937).
    French Art Since Eighteen Hundred. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 8-December 8, 1929).
  • {{cite web|title=Melancholy|url=false|author=Odilon Redon|year=c. 1868|access-date=22 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1927.299