Portrait of Madame Redon Embroidering 1880

Odilon Redon made this portrait of his wife around 1900, using pastel on paper. Notice how the softness of the pastel medium gives the image a hazy, dreamlike quality. This isn't just about aesthetics; it speaks to a whole set of cultural values. Redon was working at a time when the Industrial Revolution had thoroughly transformed the world. But many artists, like Redon, were wary of the new machine age. They prized handcraft and individual expression all the more. Embroidery, the activity Madame Redon is engaged in, was a classic example of this. It represented a kind of labor far removed from the factory floor. It was slow, meticulous, and personal. So, in a way, Redon is making a statement here, aligning himself with a set of values that stand apart from the modern, mechanized world.