This fantastical drawing of a helmeted woman in profile is one of four similar charcoal drawings Redon executed during the last decade of the nineteenth century. The sitter, rendered strangely mute by her helmetlike covering and untouchable by its thorny needles, varies slightly from sheet to sheet. While the exact meaning of Redon's image is unclear, it has been thought that the bizarre bondage imposed on his sitter expresses subconscious fear of female sexuality or, conversely, serves as a symbol of female fecundity. Equally important, however, is Redon's virtuoso handling of charcoal and his ability to capture its full range of tones, from the dark velvet quality of the helmet to the pallor of the woman's skin.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Diamond Jubilee Exhibition, Masterpieces of Drawing," November 4, 1950–February 11, 1951.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "French Drawings: Masterpieces from Seven Centuries," 1955-1956.
Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "French Drawings: Masterpieces from Seven Centuries," 1955-1956.
Art Institute of Chicago. "French Drawings: Masterpieces from Seven Centuries," 1955-1956.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "French Drawings: Masterpieces from Seven Centuries," 1955-1956.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Odilon Redon, Gustave Moreau, Rodolphe Bresdin," December 4, 1961–February 4, 1962.
Paris. Cabinet des dessins, Musée du Louvre. "Dessins français du Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York de David à Picasso," October 25, 1973–January 7, 1974.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Nineteenth Century French Drawings and Prints," June 23–August 23, 1981.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings, Prints and Photographs: A Selection," July 25–September 10, 1989.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," November 28, 1994–February 5, 1995.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," July 27–October 25, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde," September 14, 2006–January 7, 2007.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde," February 17–May 13, 2007.
Wildenstein I.264
Claude Roger-Marx Redon, fusains. Paris, 1950, fig. no. pl. 1, ill.
Regina Shoolman, Charles E. Slatkin Six Centuries of French Master Drawings in America. Oxford University Press, New York, 1950, fig. no. pl. 117, p. 208.
Museum of Modern Art Bulletin. Museum of Modern Art, New York, vol. 19, no. 2, Winter 1952, fig. no. 14, pl. 11, p. 14, ill.
John Rewald Post-Impressionism: from van Gogh to Gauguin. 1st ed. (later eds. 1962, 1978). New York, 1956, p. 170, ill.
"MMA Bulletin" French Drawings. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 17, no. 6, New York, February 1959, p. 170, ill.
Jacques Fryszman "French Drawings from the Metropolitan Museum at the Louvre." The Burlington Magazine. 115, no. 849, December 1973, fig. no. 4, pp. 835-37, ill.
Colta Ives "French Prints in the Era of Impressionism and Symbolism." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988 (Summer), p. 24, ill.
Nicholas Wadley Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Drawing. Laurence King Publishers, London, 1991, fig. no. 78, p. 70.
Nadine Orenstein, Jeff L. Rosenheim "A Centennial Album: Drawings, Prints and Photographs." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. LXXIV, no. 3, Winter 2017, pp. 14-15, ill.
Christopher Lloyd Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Drawings. Thames and Hudson, London, 2019, pp. 119, ill.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.
