Collection Küther, Naarden, Pays-Bas

Collection particulière (acquis vers 1920)

Vente Londres, Christie's, 31 mars 1981, lot 230 

Collection particulière, Angleterre (acquis lors de cette dernière)

Vente Londres, Sotheby’s, 3 mars 2022, lot 218

Acquis lors de cette vente par l'actuel propriétaire

Collection Louis Grandchamp des Raux

Londres, J.P.L. Fine Arts, Private View : A Selection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Drawings, Watercolours, Pastels and Paintings, mai-juillet 1984, n° 7, reproduit en couleur

Londres, J.P.L. Fine Arts, Private View : A Selection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Drawings, Watercolours, Pastels and Paintings, Nineteenth and Twentieth Century, novembre 1988-janvier 1989, n° 8, reproduit en couleur

Apollo, n° 229, mars 1981, reproduit

A. Wildenstein, Odilon Redon, Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint et dessiné, Portraits et figures, vol.I, Wildenstein Institute, La Bibliothèque des arts, Paris, 1992, n°421, reproduit en noir et blanc p.168

Born in the shadow of the “Noirs” and gradually illuminated by colour, Odilon Redon’s work explores a profoundly original dreamlike world.

At the dawn of the 1890’s, Redon began a gradual path towards colour, leaving behind the mysteries of the shadows in favour of bright hues. This period of transition that lasted ten years, concluded with his definitively abandoning the use of black in 1900 (ill. 1). His subjects also evolved: he turned to mythology, flowers and portraits, all the while exploring new techniques – pastel, watercolour and oils – which brought greater warmth to his work. These vibrant tones and supernatural colours allowed him to better suggest the fleeting nature of his dreams. Redon was delighted with this new approach: “By my constantly viewing things objectively, I have since come to realise, with my eyes more fully open to all things, that the life we lead can also reveal joy. If the art of an artist is the song of their life, a sombre or sad melody, I have sought to strike a happy note through colour.”

This Tête de Femme Voilée en Bleu is a striking example of these new experiments. Her head slightly tilted, the young woman looks out at the viewer, seemingly filled by sadness or melancholy. Her face, rendered in shades of brown shadowed with black – still reminiscent of the charcoal technique – her clothing and her purplish-blue veil, contrast with the abstract background composed of shimmering greens and oranges. A master of pastel, Redon uses this medium to create a rich and vibrant texture, where the pigment blends with the light to bring his dreamlike visions to life (ill. 2). The veil of this young woman, in the colour associated with the Virgin, and her sorrowful expression evoke the image of Mary at the foot of the cross.

This pastel can be compared to another work representing the same model in a similar pose. Titled La Souffrance (ill. 3) in the catalogue raisonné, the figure is this time presented from the waist up with one hand visible and a pained expression that is more intense, but which is not directed towards the viewer. In the illustration in black and white one can make out a halo, reinforcing the interpretation of this being a Madonna-like figure, overcome with sorrow at the death of her son.

The exploration of the mystical and the intimate are singular and determining elements in the art of Redon. His capacity to suggest mystery and the spiritual became richer at the end of the 1880’s due to his relationship with Paul Gauguin whom he met in 1886.

Despite their differences, this encounter opened new horizons for Redon, notably the use of colour as an expressive force and the aesthetic of Japonism. His influence marked the Nabis, then the Fauves, continuing to Matisse, who shared the same fascination with colour.