Passage of a Soul - Odilon Redon
Archival giclée
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Description
A haunting Symbolist etching by Odilon Redon, capturing the ethereal movement of a soul emerging from darkness.
Odilon Redon, a central figure in the Symbolist movement, produced this etching during a period when he moved away from his earlier 'noirs'—the charcoal drawings and lithographs that defined his reputation. In this work, the artist explores the ethereal transition of the human spirit. The figure emerges from a dense, textured darkness, rendered with fine, cross-hatched lines that suggest a state of flux or dissolution. The light source is ambiguous, casting a ghostly glow upon the central form while leaving the surrounding space in deep shadow.
Redon often drew inspiration from literature and the subconscious, favouring dreamlike imagery over objective reality. The technique here demonstrates his mastery of the etching needle, using varied pressure to create a range of tones from stark white to near-black. The composition is vertical and claustrophobic, forcing the viewer to focus on the upward motion of the figure. This print captures the melancholic and introspective quality common to Redon's graphic work. It avoids clear narrative, instead inviting the viewer to contemplate the metaphysical themes of mortality and transformation. The texture of the paper and the deliberate marks of the artist's hand remain visible, providing a tactile quality that complements the otherworldly subject matter. This piece is a fine example of late nineteenth-century French printmaking, where technical precision met the subjective concerns of the Symbolist aesthetic.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Passage of a Soul - Odilon Redon
Artist Biography
Odilon Redon
For the first two decades of his career he worked exclusively in black: charcoal drawings and lithographs he called his noirs. Floating eyeballs, severed heads with closed lids, spiders with human faces, plants that grow teeth. The images are hallucinatory but precisely rendered, closer to medical illustration than fantasy. He published his first lithograph album, Dans le Reve, in 1879. Nobody noticed.
Recognition came sideways. In 1884, Joris-Karl Huysmans published A rebours, a novel about a reclusive aesthete who decorates his rooms with Redon's prints. The book became a cult text for the Symbolist movement and Redon became famous by association. Stephane Mallarme, the Symbolist poet, became a close friend. Redon also completed a series of lithographs dedicated to Edgar Allan Poe, whose poems Mallarme and Baudelaire had translated into French.
After 1900 he stopped making noirs entirely and shifted to colour: pastels and oils of flowers, mythological figures and butterflies in palettes that anticipate Matisse. The transition was so complete that the Surrealists later claimed the black work while the Fauves claimed the colour, and neither group seemed to notice they were talking about the same person.
He studied under Jean-Leon Gerome at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, which is an unlikely pairing: Gerome painted Roman gladiators with photographic precision. Redon painted eyeballs attached to balloons. Goya and Delacroix were the influences that actually stuck.
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