The artwork titled “Portrait of the Son of Robert de Cometcy” is a creation by the artist Odilon Redon, dated to the year 1898. This piece is constructed with the mediums of pastel on paper and hails from the artistic movement known as Symbolism. The genre of the artwork is classified as a portrait, and it presently resides within a private collection.
The artwork in question captures the profile of a young boy, presumably the son of Robert de Cometcy, rendered with delicate pastel strokes on paper, which is a characteristic medium for Redon’s later works. The composition is dominated by an ethereal, soft-focused quality symbolic of Redon’s style, which often evokes a sense of the mysterious and the ineffable. The distinct absence of harsh lines or vivid, contrasting colors lends the portrait a dream-like ambiance, befitting the Symbolist movement’s intent to express ideas and emotions rather than to merely replicate the visible world. The use of subtle coloration and light imbues the artwork with a gentle warmth and suggests the introspective nature of the subject. The young boy’s countenance is captured in a moment of quiet contemplation, gazing out beyond the confines of the canvas into a world unseen, inviting viewers to ponder the thoughts and dreams of the sitter.
