The Crying Spider 1881

Odilon Redon, a French artist working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, made this lithograph called "The Crying Spider". Redon was an important figure associated with Symbolism, a movement that critiqued the modern focus on rationalism and science. The image is unsettling: a spider's body with a human face, tears streaming down its cheeks. In France, Redon was active during a time of significant social change, including the rise of industrialization, urbanization, and the growing influence of scientific thought. Symbolist artists turned away from depicting the external world and explored subjective, internal realities and the realm of dreams and imagination. As he turned to mythological and psychological themes, Redon was also commenting on the social structures of his time. Art historians consult sources like letters, diaries, and critical reviews, to more fully understand the socio-cultural context in which the artist was working. Art becomes meaningful through its complex relationship to its social and institutional context.