Bizarre

9 Creatures by Odilon Redon That Will Give You the Creeps

Zuzanna Stańska 31 October 2022 min Read

Mythological Femmes Fatales in Mysterious Symbolist Paintings

European Art

Odilon Redon’s World of Darkness

Art History 101

5 Facts That Will Help You Understand Symbolism

The creatures by Odilon Redon look truly otherworldly. During the early years of the artistic activity of this Symbolist painter, printmaker, draughtsman, and pastellist, his works were described as “a synthesis of nightmares and dreams.”

As you will see below, they are full of dark, fantastic figures and creatures from nightmares, or skewed imagination, whatever you call it. Redon created imagined and supernatural scenes.

My originality consists in bringing to life… Improbable beings and making them live according to the laws of probability, by putting–as far as possible–the logic of the Visible at the service of the Invisible.

Odilon Redon, MoMA Highlights: 375 Works from The Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019.

Redon was influenced by the poetry of Charles Baudelaire and Stéphane Mallarmé and admired the painters Gustave Moreau and Gustav Klimt.

Below you will find a small gallery of creepy creatures by Odilon Redon. Enjoy!

1. The Smiling Spider

Odilon, The Smiling Spider, 1881, Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland. — Odilon Redon, *The Smiling Spider*, 1881, Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland.

2. The Cyclops

Odilon Redon, The Cyclops, 1898, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands. — Odilon Redon, *The Cyclops*, 1898, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands.

3. Vision

Odilon Redon, Vision, c. 1883 — Odilon Redon, *Vision*, c. 1883, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France.

4. Cactus Man

Odilon Redon, Cactus Man, 1881, The Woodner Family Collection — Odilon Redon, *Cactus Man*, 1881. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

5. Guardian Spirit of the Waters

Odilon Redon, Guardian Spirit of the Waters, 1878, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. — Odilon Redon, *Guardian Spirit of the Waters*, 1878, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.

6. Crying Spider

Redon, Crying Spider — Odilon Redon, *Crying Spider,* 1881. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

7. Eye-Balloon

Odilon Redon, Eye-Balloon — Odilon Redon, *Eye-Balloon*, 1878, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA.

8. The Cube

Odilon Redon, The Cube — Odilon Redon, *The Cube*, 1880. Obelisk Art History.

9. Spirit of the Forest (Specter from a Giant Tree)

Odilon Redon, Spirit of the Forest (Specter from a Giant Tree) , 1880 — Odilon Redon, *Spirit of the Forest (Specter from a Giant Tree)*, 1880. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

We hope you enjoyed all these extraordinary creatures by Odilon Redon!

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Zuzanna Stańska

Art Historian, founder and CEO of DailyArtMagazine.com and DailyArt mobile app. But to be honest, her greatest accomplishment is being the owner of Pimpek the Cat.