1896
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Below, I Saw the Vaporous Contours of a Human Form is a 1896 by Odilon Redon, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A ghostly shape drifts in soft gray mist. You can barely tell it’s a person—just a hint of shoulders, a curve that might be a head. Redon made this print after reading a spooky 1859 novel about ghosts and hidden rooms. He didn’t draw clear figures; instead, he let shadows suggest things half-seen. The blur feels like a memory or a dream. If you like this quiet, eerie style, look up the technique sfumato.
Odilon Redon was a voracious reader of contemporary literature, and such texts often influenced his art. This series was inspired by The Haunted and the Haunters, an 1859 novel by British writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Redon’s prints capture the book’s mysterious tone and emphasis on the supernatural through vague but evocative imagery that sometimes borders on abstraction. By this time a seasoned expert in lithography, the artist collaborated with master printer Auguste Clot. Their combined technical skills allowed for the rich tonal variation seen here, made by turning Redon’s lithographic…
One of Redon's greatest patrons, the occultist René Philipon, commissioned this portfolio as a supplement for his French translation of Bulwer-Lytton's The Haunted and the Haunters.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Born Bertrand-Jean Redon on 20 April 1840 in Bordeaux, the artist adopted the name Odilon from his mother, Marie-Odile.
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