Quasimodo

Quasimodo is emblematic among Redon’s noirs, stemming from a visionary period between 1870 and 1890 in which the artist solely produced works using neutral tones, primarily through rich black charcoal. Erasures and white heightening employed by the artist to create a dramatic chiaroscuro effect. Redon was a Romantic in sentiment and found great inspiration in the work of Francisco Goya, in particular his black paintings. He saw black pigment as an opportunity to explore the world of shadow and indulge his fascination with the phantoms of insomnia and nightmares, the darker realm of the imagination that took form at night. The subject of this work, Quasimodo, is a reference to the twisted protagonist of the Victor Hugo epic The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a seminal work of literature published around forty years prior to the execution of the present drawing. Both Redon and Hugo were categorized together as “ Baudelaire Romanticists,” named after Charles Baudelaire the French poet, translator of Edgar Allen Poe and an art critic who lauded the work of artists such as Eugène Delacroix.
While Redon’s noirs support the aesthetics of this darker breed of Romanticism, there is also a very personal element to his works that instill them with a sense of whimsy that would later inspire the Surrealists. The figure in Quasimodo does not adhere exactly to the character description laid out by Hugo; it is not an illustration for a text but Redon’s own take on the personification of the notable outcast. The face and modeling of the figure mimic many other ghoulish images that recurred throughout Redon’s oeuvre during this period and often he would title or dedicate works to the great luminaries of Romanticism including Poe and Goya. Quasimodo is a singular example of Redon’s enthusiasm for his influences and the lineage of creative thought.