Odilon Redon (1840–1916) was one of the central figures of French Symbolist art. In his charcoal drawings and lithographs from the age of the Impressionists, Redon devoted himself to the human subconscious, with its fears and nightmares, and produced an urgent and almost eerie body of work.

In pastels and paintings around the end of the nineteenth century Redon developed his characteristically intense palette. His figures and objects taken from the worlds of antiquity and Christianity or from nature are usually veiled in iridescent clouds of color, and their effect is enigmatic and mystical.

With more than 200 works, the publication attempts to underline Redon’s central importance for an emergent Modernism. Much admired by Cézanne, Degas, and Matisse, he influenced artists as different as Duchamp, the Surrealists, and even Jasper Johns.