The Yellow Sail

Symbolist artist Odilon Redon created images that suggest mental states or spiritual realms rather than imitations of the visible world. While Redon was fascinated by recent scientific discoveries relating to the sea, this glowing pastel may have a more mystical inspiration. Does it refer to the final journey of the soul, symbolized by the gems, across the divide between life and death? The two women could be spiritual presences who attend the soul as guardian figures. Known for his unique blend of artistic naturalism and symbolic subject matter, Odilon Redon was highly influential among the late 19th century French avant-garde circle. Working in charcoal, pastel, oil, and lithography, Redon created imaginative scenes that, while often based in the supernatural, were nonetheless executed in a highly representational manner. Redon considered this descriptive accuracy essential, writing “every time that a human figure does not give the illusion that it is … about to come out of the picture frame to walk, act or think, the drawing is not a truly modern one.” Redon was influenced by the poetry of Charles Baudelaire and Stéphane Mallarmé and admired by the painters Gustave Moreau and Gustave Klimt - as such he is often remembered as a Symbolist, though Redon preferred autonomy and never actually considered himself part of the group.