Volupte, Fantome Elastique! (Pleasure, elastic phantom!) 1890

Odilon Redon created this lithograph, "Volupte, Fantome Elastique!" using black ink and white paper. The drawing features a nude woman, seen from the back, in a shadowy, intimate space with a bed and heavy drapes. The ethereal quality arises from Redon’s focus on line and texture rather than realistic form. Notice how the contrast between light and dark creates an ambiguous space, destabilizing fixed forms. Redon's work often defies simple interpretation, aligning with the Symbolist movement's interest in evoking subjective, emotional states rather than representing the external world. It can be seen as a challenge to the positivist thinking of the time, favouring mystery and the unseen. The elastic phantom of the title suggests a world of shifting forms and hidden desires. The work’s aesthetic significance also lies in its engagement with broader philosophical questions about the nature of perception and the limits of human knowledge.