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Centaur
Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916)
1895–1900
Medium/Technique
Pastel on canvas
Dimensions
73 x 60.3 cm (28 3/4 x 23 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Laurence K. Marshall
Accession Number64.2206
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPastels
Romantic and literary in his interests, Redon was attracted by the ambiguous and the mythological. In his work, he aimed to raise "the spirit into the realms of mystery, into the anxiety of the unresolved, and into the delicious world of uncertainty." Pastel, with its rich but subdued colors and chalky texture was Redon's preferred medium for his often otherworldly images. The centaur, a mythological creature with a man's torso attached to a horse's body, appears frequently in his work.
Inscriptionslower left: ODILON REDON
ProvenanceBy 1925, Gustave Fayet (b. 1865 - d. 1925), Béziers, France; by 1948, sold from the Fayet collection, possibly through his son-in-law, Paul Bacou, to Jacques Dubourg, Paris [see note 1]; January 1959, sold by Dubourg to Laurence K. Marshall, Boston; 1964, gift of Laurence K. Marshall to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 9, 1964)
NOTES:
[1] Gustave Fayet was a prominent collector of Redon's work. A painting entitled "The Centaur" of 1910 was lent by Fayet's son-in-law, Paul Bacou, to "The Exhibition of Paintings by Odilon Redon," Wildenstein, London, January 1938, cat. no. 33; whether this is identical with MFA no. 64.2206 -- an undated pastel on canvas -- is not certain. However, a letter from Jacques Dubourg to Lucretia H. Giese of the MFA (September 6, 1969) in the curatorial file states that the picture "was bought by me along with other pastels by Redon from [Fayet's] collection."
NOTES:
[1] Gustave Fayet was a prominent collector of Redon's work. A painting entitled "The Centaur" of 1910 was lent by Fayet's son-in-law, Paul Bacou, to "The Exhibition of Paintings by Odilon Redon," Wildenstein, London, January 1938, cat. no. 33; whether this is identical with MFA no. 64.2206 -- an undated pastel on canvas -- is not certain. However, a letter from Jacques Dubourg to Lucretia H. Giese of the MFA (September 6, 1969) in the curatorial file states that the picture "was bought by me along with other pastels by Redon from [Fayet's] collection."