Title Plate
1896
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1896
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Title Plate is a 1896 by Odilon Redon, a Impressionism work, depicting sheet music, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a dark plate with a floating, ghostly face—eyes closed, mouth open as if whispering. Redon made this as part of a series for a spooky novel. The book’s eerie mood mattered more than clear details, so the face feels half-dreamed. He worked with a top printer to layer soft blacks, letting shadows suggest shapes instead of drawing them sharp. Look up *sfumato* to see how other artists blurred edges like this.
