Description
Like many artists of the time, Odilon Redon drew inspiration from 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner and explored his music throughout various media. Here, Redon depicted Parsifal, the heroic knight after whom Wagner titled an 1882 opera centered on a search for the Holy Grail. The print’s murky tones combine with Parsifal’s vacant stare to create an aura of mystery. The print was the first given to the museum by Ralph King, a founding trustee and a Redon enthusiast known among New York City gallerists in the 1920s for his tendency to purchase their entire inventories of the artist’s work.
Provenance
Ralph King [1855-1926], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (?-1925); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1925)
Accession Number
1925.21
Medium
lithograph
Dimensions
Image: 32.2 x 24.2 cm (12 11/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
Credit Line
Gift of Ralph King