Buddha

Currently on view

Odilon Redon (1840 - 1916), 1904

distemper on canvas, 159.8 cm x 121.1 cm

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

The Buddha figure sits in the lotus position under a tree and almost seems part of it. Redon has achieved this effect by using little more than a few outlines to depict it. The artist was deeply interested in eastern spirituality.

To give the picture a fresco-like appearance, Redon has chosen a particularly matt sort of paint. He intended the painting to be countersunk into a wall, making it an integral decorative feature of an interior.

Download the catalogue entry (pdf, 5.1 MB)

Object number
s0465N1996
Dimensions
159.8 cm x 121.1 cm, 162 cm x 123.3 cm
Provenance
Sold by the artist, Paris to Andries Bonger, Amsterdam for FRF 700, 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. 112

Enschede, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Odilon Redon 1840-1916 : tekeningen, litho's, pastels en schilderijen uit Nederlands bezit, 1 December 1984-20 January 1985, no. 42

Bremen, Kunsthalle Bremen, Odilon Redon, 27 November 1983-22 January 1984, no. zonder nr.

Winterthur, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Odilon Redon, 20 September-13 November 1983, no. zonder nr.

Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, André Bonger en zijn kunstenaarsvrienden Redon, Bernard, Van Gogh, 6 June-6 August 1972, no. 3

The Hague, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Odilon Redon, 3 May-23 June 1957, no. 202

Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie, Odilon Redon, October 1956-January 1957, no. 186

Arnhem, Vereniging voor Beeldende Kunst Arnhem, Tentoonstelling van Odilon Redon, 26 March-4 April 1948, no. 21

Amsterdam, Larensche Kunsthandel, Tentoonstelling van werken van Odilon Redon, 7-14 May 1909, no. 34

Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Salon d’automne, 15 October-15 November 1904, no. niet in catalogus

Groot, I.M. de, André Bonger en zijn kunstenaarsvrienden Redon, Bernard, Van Gogh, 1972, p. 14

Rapetti, Rodolphe, Thomson, Richard, Fowle, F., Bonsdorff, A.-M. von, Bakker, Nienke, Dreams of nature : symbolism from Van Gogh to Kandinsky, 2012

Vergeest, Aukje, The French collection : nineteenth-century French paintings in Dutch public collections, 2000, p. 269-270

Rapetti, Rodolphe, Thomson, Richard, Fowle, F., Bonsdorff, A.-M. von, Bakker, Nienke, Gedroomde landschappen : symbolisme van Van Gogh tot Kandinsky, 2012, p. 100-101

Darley, Esther, Suijver, Renske, Masterpieces in the Van Gogh Museum, 2019, p. 160

Darley, Esther, Suijver, Renske, Meesterwerken in het Van Gogh Museum, 2019, p. 160

Busch, G., Matta, M., Odilon Redon, cop. 1983, p. 226-227

Decroocq, M.-C., Lacau St. Guily, A., Wildenstein, Alec, Odilon Redon : catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint et dessiné, 1992-1998, p. 267

Kolks, Z., Niermeyer, M., Uitert, Evert van, Odilon Redon 1840-1916 : tekeningen, litho's, pastels en schilderijen uit Nederlands bezit, 1984, p. 19

Leeman, Fred, Roos Rosa de Carvalho, Fleur, Vergeest, Aukje, Stolwijk, Chris, Odilon Redon and Emile Bernard : masterpieces from the Andries Bonger collection, 2009, p. 76, 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, 76, 123

Search in the collection