Haunting

Odilon Redon

1893–94 · Lithograph; fifth (final) state · Drawings and Prints

A ghostly female figure walks—or floats—in a trance-like state. The long ends of her headscarf billow as if moved by a mysterious breeze, while strange forms emerge from the darkness and hover around her. Redon produced various states of this print, transforming his initial depiction of an episode from Faust, a play by the German poet Goethe, into the enigmatic scene we see here. Only in this final state did the artist render the background pitch black, heightening the ominous character of the image.

Artist

Odilon Redon

Date

1893–94

Medium

Lithograph; fifth (final) state

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1955