Pegasus and Bellerophon

• Odilon Redon (1840–1916)
• ca. 1888
• Charcoal, charcoal with water wash, white chalk, conté crayon, and highlighting by erasure on bu papier bleuté, darkened
• Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
• (1975.1.686)

The Symbolist artist Odilon Redon called his charcoal drawings noirs, the French word for black. In this work, he depicted Pegasus, the winged horse, and his master, Bellerophon. The man leans against Pegasus’s flank, gently handling the animal. Depicted on a larger scale than Bellerophon, Pegasus stretches his wings beyond the edges of the sheet. Redon emphasized the contrast of light and shadow by allowing only parts of the forms to emerge from the dark background.