Redon2023

produce works with depth, texture, and a strong contrast between shadows and highlights. This technique paved the way for his important series of “Noirs,” black and white heavily worked charcoal drawings depicting scenes of somber beauty or nightmarish imagery, and it is these works which define the first part of Redon’s career (cat. nos. 3, 4, 5, 9 ). Exhibited in 1882 , they were celebrated by critics and artists, and in 1884, a cult novel by Joris Karl Huysmans titled À rebours (Against Nature) told the story of a decadent aristocrat who collected Redon drawings. But the public still remained skeptical. Though lithographs could be easily converted into prints and then widely distributed, Redon struggled commercially and did not make a consistent living from his work until much later. In 1880 Redon married Camille Falte. Their first son Jean died in 1887 and in 1889 their second son Ari was born. Along with his growing popularity in the art world, this personal happiness helped alleviate the depression Redon had struggled with throughout his life. There is a clear shift in his work at this time with the introduction of color, and by 1902 , Redon had stopped creating Noirs altogether. These new colorful, poetic studies in pastel and oil depicting flowers, butterflies, and dreaming heads (cat. no. 10 ) , experienced