Parsifal (1892): Art, History and Details

Parsifal (1892) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916); Becquet (French).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Like many artists of the time, Odilon Redon drew inspiration from 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner and explored his music throughout various media. Here, Redon depicted Parsifal, the heroic knight after whom Wagner titled an 1882 opera centered on a search for the Holy Grail. The print’s murky tones combine with Parsifal’s vacant stare to create an aura of mystery. The print was the first given to the museum by Ralph King, a founding trustee and a Redon enthusiast known among New York City gallerists in the 1920s for his tendency to purchase their entire inventories of the artist’s work.

Object facts

• Title: Parsifal
• Date: 1892
• Creator attribution: Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916); Becquet (French)
• Culture: France, 19th-20th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: lithograph
• Dimensions: Image: 32.2 x 24.2 cm (12 11/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
• Collection: PR - Lithograph
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1925.21

A detail from the museum

When Redon was working on this lithograph, he discovered a flaw in the stone and started over. He reused rather than discarding the original stone for The Druidess, another print.

Collection credit

Gift of Ralph King

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of an exhibition of the art of lithography: commemorating the sesquicentennial of its invention, 1798-1948. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, November 11, 1948-January 2, 1949.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.