A single large cyclopean head rises above a rocky outcrop in The Cyclops, painted by Odilon Redon around 1914 in oil on cardboard mounted on panel. The creature’s solitary eye dominates its face, which is rendered in warm ochres and browns, emerging from a misty, clouded sky. Below, a nude female figure reclines among richly textured, multicolored foliage and rocks, partially hidden within the landscape. The composition is divided between the looming upper figure and the earthbound reclining form, with the cyclops gazing downward.

The landscape is painted with loose, expressive brushwork and a palette of purples, reds, greens, and ochres, creating a dreamlike, almost abstract environment. The light is diffuse, with no strong directional source, lending the scene an ambiguous, otherworldly quality. The Cyclops belongs to the late period of Redon’s career, when he often drew on mythological and literary sources for his imagery. The painting is in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, the Netherlands.

This work reflects the Symbolist movement’s interest in the fantastic and the subconscious, which Redon explored through his distinctive use of color and imaginative subject matter.