# Odilon Redon artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/odilon-redon/
Profile generated: 2026-05-02T04:04:37.659Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1840-04-20
- Death date: 1916-07-06
- Nationality: French
- Movements: Symbolism
- Common media: Oil painting, Pastel, Charcoal drawing (noirs), Lithography, Etching

## About Odilon Redon

Odilon Redon (1840–1916) was a French Symbolist painter, draftsman, and printmaker whose work explored the terrain of dreams, myth, and the imagination. Born in Bordeaux and active in Paris, Redon first became known for his atmospheric charcoal drawings and lithographs — often called his noirs — which depicted fantastical creatures, isolated eyes, and shadowed heads drawn from literary and mythological sources. In the 1890s he shifted toward luminous pastels and oils, turning to floral still lifes, mythological scenes, and color-saturated compositions that influenced the Nabis and later modernists. His work bridges Romantic introspection and the emerging modernist focus on inner experience. Redon is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Tate, the Musée d'Orsay, and many other major institutions. Collectors most frequently encounter his lithographic series and pastel works at auction.

## Common works and media

Redon's most commonly encountered work types include charcoal drawings (the noirs), pastel-on-paper compositions (especially flowers and mythological subjects), oil paintings on canvas, and lithographic print series such as Dans le Rêve, Les Fleurs du Mal, and illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe. Single-sheet lithographs and album prints from his portfolios are the most frequently traded medium at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

Odilon Redon maintains a deep, liquid, and internationally distributed auction market. Over 824 lots have been tracked from 1993 through May 2026, with 548 carrying realized prices. The market is strikingly stratified by medium. Original pastels and oil paintings dominate the upper tier: a pastel-on-paper Profil bleu sold at Christie's London in March 2026 for £952,500, and a charcoal drawing La grappe or Le marchand de ballons achieved £177,800 the same day. Charcoal drawings and works on paper cluster in the mid-range (roughly €20,000–€140,000 at major houses). Lithographic prints and album sheets form the most actively traded segment, with individual impressions typically ranging from $300 to $12,700 at houses like Swann, Christie's, and regional sellers. The median auction price across all media sits at approximately $6,960, while the 75th percentile reaches $56,250—reflecting the skew toward prints in the volume data. Ten named auction houses regularly offer Redon material, led by Christie's and Sotheby's at the top end and complemented by Swann Auction Galleries (prints), Bonhams, Artcurial, Piasa, Tajan, Ader, RoGallery, and Bruce Teleky Inc. at the entry level. Year-over-year volume is stable (54 lots in the trailing 12 months versus 57 in the prior period), indicating sustained collector interest without oversaturation.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Odilon Redon maintains a deep, liquid, and internationally distributed auction market. Over 824 lots have been tracked from 1993 through May 2026, with 548 carrying realized prices. The market is strikingly stratified by medium. Original pastels and oil paintings dominate the upper tier: a pastel-on-paper Profil bleu sold at Christie's London in March 2026 for £952,500, and a charcoal drawing La grappe or Le marchand de ballons achieved £177,800 the same day. Charcoal drawings and works on paper cluster in the mid-range (roughly €20,000–€140,000 at major houses). Lithographic prints and album sheets form the most actively traded segment, with individual impressions typically ranging from $300 to $12,700 at houses like Swann, Christie's, and regional sellers. The median auction price across all media sits at approximately $6,960, while the 75th percentile reaches $56,250—reflecting the skew toward prints in the volume data. Ten named auction houses regularly offer Redon material, led by Christie's and Sotheby's at the top end and complemented by Swann Auction Galleries (prints), Bonhams, Artcurial, Piasa, Tajan, Ader, RoGallery, and Bruce Teleky Inc. at the entry level. Year-over-year volume is stable (54 lots in the trailing 12 months versus 57 in the prior period), indicating sustained collector interest without oversaturation.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal of an Odilon Redon work would cross-reference the item against this 824-lot auction record set to establish a comparable-sales bracket. The appraiser would first classify the work by medium—pastel and oil on canvas sit in the highest tier; charcoal drawings and noirs in the mid tier; and lithographs, etchings, and album prints in the entry tier—since medium alone accounts for orders-of-magnitude price differences. Photographs of the work, measured dimensions, signature or inscription details, paper or canvas condition, and provenance history would be compared against recent realized prices at the appropriate house tier. For prints, edition number, state, and catalogue raisonné reference (Mellerio for lithographs) are essential discriminators. The appraiser would select comparable lots from the same medium and approximate size sold within the past three years, weighting Christie's and Sotheby's results for unique works and Swann or Bonhams results for prints. Condition reports—especially foxing, fading, or laid-down sheets for works on paper—would adjust the bracket accordingly.

### Valuation factors

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### Collector notes

- Redon's market offers entry points across a wide budget range. Single lithographs from portfolios such as Dans le Rêve, Les Fleurs du Mal, and the Poe illustrations regularly appear at regional auction houses and can be acquired for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars—making them accessible to new collectors of Symbolist art. Collectors should verify print state and edition number against the Mellerio catalogue raisonné before purchasing, as restrikes and later impressions circulate. For buyers targeting the mid tier, charcoal drawings (noirs) at $10,000–$60,000 and smaller pastels at $20,000–$100,000 are offered seasonally at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams. Provenance and condition are critical at this level: request full condition reports and confirm no laid-down mounting or significant foxing. Top-tier pastels and oils above $200,000 trade almost exclusively through Christie's and Sotheby's and require specialist vetting. The year-over-year lot count (54 versus 57) indicates a stable, liquid market without signs of oversupply or softening demand. Sellers should note that Redon prints are abundant and should be realistically priced; unique works in strong condition with documented provenance continue to attract competitive bidding.

### Market caveats

- Price distribution is aggregated across currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, CHF) and reflects hammer prices plus buyer's premium where reported; direct currency comparison should account for exchange-rate timing.
- The $10 minimum and $4.09M maximum span several orders of magnitude primarily because of medium-driven tiering; a single 'average' price is not meaningful for this artist.
- Posthumous restrikes, later-state impressions, and reproduction prints can closely resemble original lithographs. Catalogue raisonné verification (Mellerio for lithographs) is essential before any appraisal.
- Several recent lots from Bruce Teleky Inc. list 'Vase of Flowers' without a realized price, which may indicate withdrawn, unsold, or post-sale-negotiated lots; these should not be treated as comparable sales.
- Misattributed Symbolist works appear periodically in the market; attribution should be confirmed against published scholarship and institutional records.
- Auction results reflect public sale data and may not capture private sales, dealer transactions, or gallery prices, which can differ materially.
- Condition is not uniformly reported across all houses and lots; price comparables should be adjusted for condition where possible.

### Market evidence sources

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- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-odilon-redon-1840-1916-la-grappe-or-le-marchand-de-ballons-charcoal-and-111-c-c8d8458b17
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-odilon-redon-1840-1916-figure-devant-un-arbre-317-c-954606d5cb
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-odilon-redon-1840-1916-reverie-316-c-c7f5685b4f
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-odilon-redon-1840-1916-la-barque-302-c-ed83188534
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-odilon-redon-1840-1916-hommage-a-goya-1885-157-c-b324349039
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-odilon-redon-1840-1916-profil-de-lumiere-1886-mellerio-61-lithographie-sur-chine-volantpremiere-epreuve-rare-etat-non-signe-avant-l-edition-a-50-exemplairesimprimee-par-lemercier-et-cie-paris33-8-x-24-188-c-e415c0ae69
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-odilon-redon-34-c-982e3c4bee
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-odilon-redon-1840-1916-la-peur-plate-14-x-22-3-cm-5-1-2-x-8-3-4-in-sheet-965-c-91234629df
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-odilon-redon-1840-1916-portrait-de-pierre-bonnard-160-c-714ba22a04
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-odilon-redon-antoine-quel-est-lithograph-74-c-13e2725acb

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum and authority sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. The Odilon Redon page draws on records from the Library of Congress, VIAF, the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), MoMA, Tate, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q154349
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odilon_Redon
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/73859058/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50046104
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/4840
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/odilon-redon-2243
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/65887