How did Odilon Redon’s prints influence the Surrealists?

Odilon Redon was a French Symbolist artist whose work, particularly his prints, served as a significant precursor to the Surrealist movement.12

Redon’s influence on the Surrealists stemmed from his focus on imagination rather than visual perception. His lithographs, which began in 1879 with the series In the Dream, explored haunted, fantastic, and macabre themes that resonated with the later Surrealist interest in the unconscious and dreamlike imagery. By creating visual "poems" that evoked private torment and mysterious, disturbing worlds—such as his depictions of winged demons, menacing shapes, and dream-lost figures—Redon established an aesthetic of the irrational that the Surrealists would later adopt and expand upon.12

Ultimately, the Surrealists regarded Redon’s ability to manifest timeless, imaginary worlds as a foundational inspiration for their own exploration of the dream state and the subconscious.2