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Armor

1891
Not on view
This fantastical drawing of a helmeted woman in profile is one of four similar charcoal drawings Redon executed during the last decade of the nineteenth century. The sitter, rendered strangely mute by her helmetlike covering and untouchable by its thorny needles, varies slightly from sheet to sheet. While the exact meaning of Redon's image is unclear, it has been thought that the bizarre bondage imposed on his sitter expresses subconscious fear of female sexuality or, conversely, serves as a symbol of female fecundity. Equally important, however, is Redon's virtuoso handling of charcoal and his ability to capture its full range of tones, from the dark velvet quality of the helmet to the pallor of the woman's skin.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Armor
  • Artist: Odilon Redon (French, Bordeaux 1840–1916 Paris)
  • Date: 1891
  • Medium: Charcoal and conté crayon
  • Dimensions: 20 x 14 1/2 in. (50.7 x 36.8 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1948
  • Object Number: 48.10.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Pandora, Odilon Redon French, Oil on canvas
Pandora
Odilon Redon
ca. 1914
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Alexander Rider (?), Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin French, Conté crayon, charcoal (?), and white-chalk heightening on off-white laid paper coated with gouache, American
Alexander Rider (?)
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1808–9
Madame Arthur Fontaine (Marie Escudier, 1865–1946), Odilon Redon French, Pastel on paper
Madame Arthur Fontaine (Marie Escudier, 1865–1946)
Odilon Redon
1901
Moulin Rouge: La Goulue, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, Lithograph printed in four colors; three sheets of wove paper
Moulin Rouge: La Goulue
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Printer Affiches Américaines, Charles Lévy
1891

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