Flowers 

Odilon Redon painted these flowers in the late 19th or early 20th century; a riot of color set against a glowing yellow backdrop. Flowers, traditionally symbols of beauty and transience, undergo a peculiar transformation in Redon’s hands. Consider the symbolic weight flowers carry across cultures – from ancient funerary rites to Renaissance allegories of love and death. They are not mere decorations but vessels of deep-seated emotional and cultural significance. The same symbol has different meanings through time. Take the poppy, for example. It has shifted from a symbol of sleep and oblivion in classical antiquity, as seen in depictions of Hypnos, to an emblem of remembrance for the fallen soldiers of modern wars. The collective memory of loss and the subconscious desire for peace are thus intertwined in this singular bloom. Redon's bouquet taps into this collective consciousness. It’s an uncanny, beautiful symbol that speaks to our primal connection with the natural world. We see the eternal cycle of decay and regeneration reflected in the vibrant, yet ephemeral, display of color and form.