1885
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Homage to Goya is a 1885 by Odilon Redon, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a dark, dreamy face floating against a shadowy background—eyes closed, lips slightly parted, as if lost in thought. Redon made this as a tribute to Goya, the Spanish artist known for his eerie, nightmarish works. Here, Redon uses soft, smudgy lines to create a mood that feels both gentle and unsettling, like a half-remembered dream. If you like this quiet strangeness, look up *sfumato*—the technique of blending tones so smoothly you can’t see the brushstrokes.
This series is one of many that Odilon Redon created throughout his career. Nearly two-thirds of his lithographs took the form of portfolios—prints connected conceptually by a theme or narrative and physically by a folder or binding. Such works were often dispersed over time, but Cleveland was fortunate to acquire several complete sets with their original covers during the 1920s. Dating from Redon’s early experimentation with lithography, Homage to Goya was intended as a tribute to 18th-century Spanish master Francisco de Goya, whose interest in dreams and the subconscious influenced Redon.…
This portfolio was published in an edition of 50, one of which Redon sent to poet Stéphane Mallarmé soon after Redon became a frequent participant in a literary salon held regularly at Mallarmé's home.
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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