Symbolism & Aestheticism · 1914

The Cyclops

Odilon Redon 1840–1916

The Cyclops (1914) by Odilon Redon. Its palette is led by dark sienna (#4e3131, 23%) and pigeon grey (#9d9c98, 21%), with accents of reddish brown and bone. Overall the canvas is mid-toned, moderately saturated and warm.

Color reading

Brown and gray cover nearly nine-tenths of the canvas. Its most vivid color, reddish brown #94694E, takes up 14% of it.

Palette

#4e3131 MG 145 dark sienna 22.9% of canvas
#9d9c98 MG 208 pigeon grey 21.3% of canvas
#675761 MG 143 sienna 17.7% of canvas
#361f26 MG 146 very dark sienna 15.7% of canvas
#94694e MG 153 reddish brown 13.6% of canvas
#cbc5b4 MG 171 bone 8.8% of canvas

Color families

Brown 59%, Gray 27%, Black 6%, Red 2%, Orange 2%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.50
Contrast: 0.54
Vividness: 0.035
Warmth: +0.97
Complexity: 181 cells
Hue range: 0.60
Focus: 0.13

Composition

51% of the visual weight is in the right half, 62% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.37 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 21% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 34% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1914
Medium: Oil on cardboard
Size: 65.8 × 52.7 cm
Genre: mythological painting
Collection: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo

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More by Odilon Redon

Le Regard, 1910
The Birth of Venus, 1912