Artwork
La Palme
La Palme is an unspecified painting by Odilon Redon. It dates from 1888 and is held in the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum.
About this work
Overview
Created around 1888, *La Palme* is a painting by French Symbolist Odilon Redon. The work presents a tightly framed portrait of a figure whose face is set against a vivid field of blue and red, the head adorned with a simple blue band. The composition conveys a quiet, introspective mood through restrained expression and layered color.
Subject & Meaning
The image focuses on a single head, the subject’s gaze ambiguous and the expression subdued, inviting contemplation. The contrast between the cool blue headband and the warmer background tones suggests an inner tension between serenity and emotional depth, a hallmark of Redon’s interest in the psychological undercurrents of portraiture.
Technique & Style
Although Redon was then chiefly associated with charcoal drawings and lithographic noirs, *La Palme* demonstrates his engagement with oil paint and color. The surface combines smooth washes with textured brushwork, allowing the overlapping hues to create a sense of atmospheric depth while retaining the flat, symbolic quality characteristic of his Symbolist approach.
History & Provenance
The painting entered the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands, where it remains on display. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s broader commitment to early modernist works, particularly those that bridge printmaking and painting in the late nineteenth century.
Context
*La Palme* belongs to a period when Redon was transitioning from monochrome noirs to more chromatic experiments. This shift aligns with a broader Symbolist movement toward expressing inner states through color and allegory, positioning the work within a network of contemporaneous explorations of mood and the unseen.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Born Bertrand-Jean Redon on 20 April 1840 in Bordeaux, the artist adopted the name Odilon from his mother, Marie-Odile.
