Artwork
Le Polype difforme flottait sur les rivages, sorte de cyclope souriant et hideux (The deformed polyp floated on the shores, a sort of smiling and hideous Cyclops)
Le Polype difforme flottait sur les rivages, sorte de cyclope souriant et hideux (The deformed polyp floated on the shores, a sort of smiling and hideous Cyclops) is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Odilon Redon. It dates from 1883 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
This 1883 lithograph by Odilon Redon features a fantastical creature with a single large eye and a subtle smile. The print is executed on chine appliqué on wove paper.
Subject & Meaning
The work depicts a hairy, cyclopean face with a mix of monstrous and benign qualities, as suggested by the title's description of it as 'smiling and hideux' (hideous). The blurry background evokes a shoreline or aquatic environment.
Technique & Style
Redon employed lithography to achieve the print's dreamlike, eerie atmosphere. The technique allowed for subtle tonal variations and textured effects, contributing to the image's otherworldly quality.
Artist & collection
Artist
Born Bertrand-Jean Redon on 20 April 1840 in Bordeaux, the artist adopted the name Odilon from his mother, Marie-Odile.
Il y eut peut-etre une vision premiere essayee dans la fleur (There was perhaps a first vision attempted in the flower)
Le Satyre au cynique sourire (The Satyr with the cynical smile)
Untitled
When Life Was Awakening in the Depths of Obscure Matter
Untitled
The Chimera Gazed at All Things with Fear
Sur le fond de nos nuits dieu de son doigt savant dessine un cauchemar multiforme et sans treve (On backdrop of our nights God with His knowing finger traces a multiform implacable nightmare)
Perversité
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Le Sphynx...mon regard que rien ne peut devier, demeure tendu a travers les choses sur un horizon inaccessible. La Chimere: Moi,Je suis legere et joyeuse (The Sphinx: "My gaze, which nothing can deflect, passes through the things and remains fixed on an inaccessible horizon." The Chimera: "I am weightless and joyful")