Odilon Redon

An introspective artist who reveled in the workings of his own mind, Redon occasionally portrayed his external appearance. He produced at least twelve self-portraits, including five paintings and seven drawings, from 1867 to 1904. The present example dates to 1880 and may be compared with a photograph of the artist taken that same year (see Wildenstein 1992, p. 2). 1880 was an important year for Redon. On May 1st, he married Camille Falte, whom he had met in the home of Berthe de Rayssac, the doyenne of a well-known literary and musical salon. In 1881, shortly after his marriage, he exhibited his charcoal drawings for the first time at the office of La Vie moderne, with a second exhibition the next year at the office of another newspaper, Le Gaulois. While these exhibitions left the public puzzled, they were instrumental in attracting attention to Redon's work. They caught the eye of the critics Emile Hennequin and J.-K. Huysman, who became his friends and championed his art.
Redon depicts himself with a serious countenance. A secondary sketch shows a false start, which the artist struck through. In these studies, Redon regarded his reflection from the same angle, with his head turned to the left and his eyes looking at the viewer (and himself in the mirror). The curiosity about the appearance of the artist who produced the fantastic drawings inspired several of Redon's contemporaries to portray Redon and publish the results, including Emile Schuffenecker for Men of Today in 1890 and Maurice Denis for Hommage à Cézanne in 1900.