Artwork
L'Arbre
L'Arbre is an oil painting by the Symbolist artist Odilon Redon. It dates from 1888 and is held in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay.
About this work
Overview
Created circa 1888, L'Arbre is an oil painting by French Symbolist Odilon Redon. The work presents a solitary, broad‑leaved tree set within a gentle landscape under a muted sky. Measuring a modest size, it now belongs to the collection of the Musée des Beaux‑Arts de Lyon, where it is displayed among the museum’s 19th‑century holdings.
Subject & Meaning
The central tree dominates the composition, its sturdy trunk and dense foliage suggesting both stability and quiet growth. The surrounding scenery is rendered with a calm, almost meditative atmosphere, inviting the viewer to contemplate the relationship between nature and the inner world, a concern that recurs in Redon’s Symbolist oeuvre.
Technique & Style
Redon employs a restrained palette of soft blues and earth tones, using chiaroscuro to model the bark and leaves with subtle light and shadow. The brushwork is smooth, allowing the oil medium to convey a delicate atmospheric haze while preserving fine detail in the tree’s texture.
History & Provenance
After a career marked by charcoal “noirs” and lithographs, Redon began working in oil and pastel during the 1890s, and L'Arbre reflects this pivotal shift. The painting entered the Musée des Beaux‑Arts de Lyon’s collection in the early 20th century, where it has remained a representative example of his later oil work.
Artist & collection
Artist
Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; French: ; 20 April 1840 – 6 July 1916) was a French Symbolist draftsman, printmaker, and painter.
