Small Bust Of A Young Girl 

Odilon Redon likely created this pastel drawing of a girl's bust in France towards the end of the 19th century. Redon developed his symbolist style at a time when academic conventions still held sway in the French art world. The bust is an artistic and cultural trope that evokes classical sculpture but the artist updates the imagery to engage with new ideas. By the 1880s, avant-garde artists increasingly looked beyond the classical tradition, and beyond France, to seek new artistic languages. The subject’s gaze is turned downward, away from the viewer, creating a sense of distance. Who was this girl, what was her social position, and what relationship did she have to the artist? Careful historical research, perhaps consulting Redon’s journals and letters, alongside studies of the cultural milieu of Paris at that time, can help us better understand this intriguing work.