Artwork
Calvary
Calvary is an unspecified painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Odilon Redon. It dates from 1898 and is held in the collection of the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection.
About this work
Overview
Odilon Redon’s 1898 oil painting Calvary portrays the crucifixion of Jesus Christ beneath a luminous sky. The composition centers the cross, flanked by two women, while a soft blue‑toned atmosphere envelops the scene. Executed in oil on canvas, the work belongs to the collection of the Kunsthaus Zürich and exemplifies Redon’s late‑period religious imagery.
Subject & Meaning
The canvas presents the biblical moment of Christ’s execution on Calvary, a theme recurrent in Christian art. Redon emphasizes the emotional weight of the event through the presence of the grieving women, inviting contemplation of sacrifice and redemption within a Symbolist framework that privileges inner experience over literal representation.
Technique & Style
Created during Redon’s transition from monochrome charcoal and lithographic “noirs” to color, the painting employs a muted palette of blues, browns, and subtle whites. Soft, blended brushstrokes generate a hazy, dreamlike ambience, while the delicate handling of light suggests depth without sharp delineation, reflecting the artist’s interest in evoking mood rather than precise detail.
History & Provenance
Redon completed Calvary in 1898, a period when he increasingly embraced oil and pastel media. The work entered the holdings of the Kunsthaus Zürich, where it remains on display. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s commitment to representing late 19th‑century Symbolist painters within its European collection.
Context
The painting emerges from the Symbolist movement’s preoccupation with spiritual and imaginative subjects, contrasting with the realism dominant in earlier academic art. Redon’s focus on ethereal atmosphere and inner feeling aligns the work with contemporaneous efforts to convey metaphysical ideas through visual means, situating Calvary within broader late‑Victorian artistic currents.
Artist & collection
Artist
Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; French: ; 20 April 1840 – 6 July 1916) was a French Symbolist draftsman, printmaker, and painter.
