Profile and Flowers 1912

Odilon Redon made this pastel drawing, Profile and Flowers, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. Redon’s mark making is all about softness and diffusion, creating a dreamlike space where edges dissolve and forms emerge from a haze of color. Look at how the pastel is layered to build up the image. The woman’s face and the flowers next to her aren’t sharply defined; they feel like they're floating in a kind of atmosphere. See the way the yellow behind the figure glows, almost like a halo? It’s not a hard-edged shape, but more like light emanating from within. Redon uses the material qualities of pastel, its powdery texture and blendability, to evoke a sense of mystery and inner vision. I’m reminded a little of the way that Pierre Bonnard works with colour and composition. This piece suggests that art isn't about capturing reality, but about creating an emotional world. It leaves us pondering, you know, the unseen realms of our own experience.