Odilon Redon (April 20, 1840 – July 6, 1916) is a French Symbolist painter and engraver of the late nineteenth century. His art explores aspects of thought, the dark and esoteric side of the human soul, imprinted with the mechanisms of the dream.Around the age of six, “in the full isolation from the countryside,” the charcoals were born, in this nature full of chiaroscuro and nuances.

He goes across fields, vineyards and woods, observes, considers the shadows, appreciates the contrast of the earth with the azure of the sky and the light. At seven years old, an old maid takes him to Paris for a few months, he discovers the museums. He decides to be an artist, his family consents, he continues his studies and takes lessons in drawing and watercolour with his first master.

There is a very strong split between the beginning and the end of his work. During the first half of his life, he is the painter of the black, and never ceases to use this shade. His transition to colour matches the birth of his first son.

In 1886, Odilon Redon participates in the eighth and last exhibition of the Impressionists.

He dies on July 6, 1916, in Paris. An oil on canvas, The Virgin, remains unfinished on his easel. He is buried in the small cemetery of Bièvres, the “soul of the king of imaginary worlds” rests there under a tombstone regularly flowered.