A Strange Juggler

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Artist: Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916)
Medium: Lithograph on China paper laid on wove paper
Size: Image: 19.9 x 19 cm (7 13/16 x 7 1/2 in.)
Culture: France, 19th century
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

This series is one of many that Odilon Redon created throughout his career. Nearly two-thirds of his lithographs took the form of portfolios—prints connected conceptually by a theme or narrative and physically by a folder or binding. Such works were often dispersed over time, but Cleveland was fortunate to acquire several complete sets with their original covers during the 1920s. Dating from Redon’s early experimentation with lithography, Homage to Goya was intended as a tribute to 18th-century Spanish master Francisco de Goya, whose interest in dreams and the subconscious influenced Redon. The six seemingly unrelated images celebrate Goya’s ambiguity and collectively suggest the introspection and isolation of artistic practice.