The Red Tree

Currently on view

Odilon Redon (1840 - 1916), 1905

distemper on canvas, 173 cm x 87.5 cm

Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (State of the Netherlands)

Odilon Redon was deeply interested in eastern spirituality. It is not clear whether the mysterious kneeling figure relates to this. We do know that Redon created this picture for use as a fresco-like decorative wall panel. He used matt paint to achieve this effect.

The Red Tree was commissioned from Odilon Redon by Andries Bonger (1861-1936). He was Theo van Gogh’s brother-in-law and an enthusiastic collector of Redon’s work.

Download the catalogue entry (pdf, 5.1 MB)

Object number
s0464N1996
Dimensions
173 cm x 87.5 cm, 177.3 cm x 92 cm
Provenance
Sold by the artist, Paris to Andries Bonger, Amsterdam for FRF 300, August 1905; after his death on 20 January 1936 inherited by his widow, Françoise W.M. Bonger-van der Borch van Verwolde, Amsterdam; after her death in 1975 bequeathed to her heirs, the Netherlands; sold by these heirs to the State of the Netherlands to be placed in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 18 December 1996.
artist
Odilon Redon
Credits
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (State of the Netherlands)

Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Odilon Redon en Emile Bernard : meesterwerken uit de collectie van Andries Bonger, 10 April-20 September 2009, no. 114

Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, André Bonger en zijn kunstenaarsvrienden Redon, Bernard, Van Gogh, 6 June-6 August 1972, no. 1

Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, The Sacred and Profane in Symbolist Art, 1-26 November 1969, no. 82

Turin, Galleria Civica d'arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Il sacro e il Profano nell’arte dei Simbolisti, June-August 1969, no. 97

Venice, XXXIe Biënnale, June 1962, no. 14

The Hague, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Odilon Redon, 3 May-23 June 1957, no. 201

Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie, Odilon Redon, October 1956-January 1957, no. 187

Groot, I.M. de, André Bonger en zijn kunstenaarsvrienden Redon, Bernard, Van Gogh, 1972, p. 13

Vergeest, Aukje, The French collection : nineteenth-century French paintings in Dutch public collections, 2000, p. 270

Bacou, Roseline, Odilon Redon, [1956], p. 91

Decroocq, M.-C., Lacau St. Guily, A., Wildenstein, Alec, Odilon Redon : catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint et dessiné, 1992-1998, p. 264

Leeman, Fred, Roos Rosa de Carvalho, Fleur, Vergeest, Aukje, Stolwijk, Chris, Odilon Redon and Emile Bernard : masterpieces from the Andries Bonger collection, 2009, p. 77, 123

Leeman, Fred, Roos Rosa de Carvalho, Fleur, Vergeest, Aukje, Stolwijk, Chris, Odilon Redon en Emile Bernard : meesterwerken uit de collectie van Andries Bonger, 2009, p. 73, 77, 123

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