.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Le Vitrail is one of several examples of Redon’s stained-glass window paintings, a motif which the artist explored primarily in the early 20th century, when he transitioned away from the dark, morbidly fantastical noirs that made him famous, to bright, innovative explorations of color. Le Vitrail is a particularly compelling work from this era because it incorporates several themes in Redon’s oeuvre, including his fascination with spirituality, his exploration of the qualities of light, and his continued engagement with literature, as the artist always worked in dialogue with the leading writers and thinkers of his day.
Redon’s fascination with windows dates to the early period of his career, when he created grayscale charcoals and lithographs known as noirs. In an early example, Le Jour (Mellerio, no. 115, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), Redon employed his characteristic eye for dramatic contrast, framing a simple view of a tree with a pitch-black interior, mysterious faces emerging from the shadows. The prevalence of windows throughout Redon’s oeuvre speaks to his fascination with light and shadow, evident in both the stark chiaroscuro of his early black-and-white works, and his later explorations of the luminosity of stained glass, so masterfully depicted in Le Vitrail.
Through his window paintings, Redon freely experimented with color, as he turned to unusual combinations or unnatural hues to retain the sense of fantasy evident in his noirs. This otherworldliness is clear in the central scene of Le Vitrail: a woman advances through a diffuse field of color, punctuated with blushing pinks and shimmering blues, existing outside of obvious context. Across his spiritual paintings, Redon often preferred to present his figures without a narrative, foregoing obvious symbolism in favor of a mystical, contemplative mood.
This approach also reflects Redon’s own spiritual experiences. In his youth, he often went to crowded churches, enjoying the intensity and community of the fiercely devoted. His interest in the sensations of religious experience, rather than narrative representation, is evident across his work, in both Christian and other religious iconography. Redon did not just engage with Christian iconography, but also turned towards Buddhism and Hinduism, portraying figures like the Buddha and Sita (from the Hindu epic The Ramayana) in similarly abstracted, imagined settings.
In addition to illustrating Redon’s fascination with spirituality, Le Vitrail also speaks to his interest in literature. Redon both inspired leading authors of his day (his lithographs were famously featured in Joris-Karl Huysmans' classic novel À rebours) and drew inspiration from his literary contemporaries, especially the works of Charles Baudelaire. During his noirs phase, Redon interpreted Baudelaire’s work in a series of prints also titled Les fleurs du mal. Windows, including stained glass windows, appear in Baudelaire’s work, such as in his prose poem “Les Fenêtres”:
“There is nothing deeper, more mysterious, more fruitful, more shadowy, or more dazzling than a window lit by a candle. What we can see in daylight is always less interesting than what happens behind a windowpane. Deep in that dark or luminous aperture, life lives, life dreams, life suffers” (originally published in Petits poèmes en prose, Paris, 1869, pp. 109-110, translated by E. Leithauser in Literary Matters, no. 9.3, Washington, D.C., 2017, n.p.).
Redon’s fascination with windows dates to the early period of his career, when he created grayscale charcoals and lithographs known as noirs. In an early example, Le Jour (Mellerio, no. 115, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), Redon employed his characteristic eye for dramatic contrast, framing a simple view of a tree with a pitch-black interior, mysterious faces emerging from the shadows. The prevalence of windows throughout Redon’s oeuvre speaks to his fascination with light and shadow, evident in both the stark chiaroscuro of his early black-and-white works, and his later explorations of the luminosity of stained glass, so masterfully depicted in Le Vitrail.
Through his window paintings, Redon freely experimented with color, as he turned to unusual combinations or unnatural hues to retain the sense of fantasy evident in his noirs. This otherworldliness is clear in the central scene of Le Vitrail: a woman advances through a diffuse field of color, punctuated with blushing pinks and shimmering blues, existing outside of obvious context. Across his spiritual paintings, Redon often preferred to present his figures without a narrative, foregoing obvious symbolism in favor of a mystical, contemplative mood.
This approach also reflects Redon’s own spiritual experiences. In his youth, he often went to crowded churches, enjoying the intensity and community of the fiercely devoted. His interest in the sensations of religious experience, rather than narrative representation, is evident across his work, in both Christian and other religious iconography. Redon did not just engage with Christian iconography, but also turned towards Buddhism and Hinduism, portraying figures like the Buddha and Sita (from the Hindu epic The Ramayana) in similarly abstracted, imagined settings.
In addition to illustrating Redon’s fascination with spirituality, Le Vitrail also speaks to his interest in literature. Redon both inspired leading authors of his day (his lithographs were famously featured in Joris-Karl Huysmans' classic novel À rebours) and drew inspiration from his literary contemporaries, especially the works of Charles Baudelaire. During his noirs phase, Redon interpreted Baudelaire’s work in a series of prints also titled Les fleurs du mal. Windows, including stained glass windows, appear in Baudelaire’s work, such as in his prose poem “Les Fenêtres”:
“There is nothing deeper, more mysterious, more fruitful, more shadowy, or more dazzling than a window lit by a candle. What we can see in daylight is always less interesting than what happens behind a windowpane. Deep in that dark or luminous aperture, life lives, life dreams, life suffers” (originally published in Petits poèmes en prose, Paris, 1869, pp. 109-110, translated by E. Leithauser in Literary Matters, no. 9.3, Washington, D.C., 2017, n.p.).