Bouquet of Flowers 

Odilon Redon’s ‘Bouquet of Flowers,’ in a private collection, is made with pastel on paper. Pastel, essentially pure pigment bound in stick form, lends itself to a direct and immediate approach. You can see the soft, velvety texture it creates. It's a medium that allows for layering and blending, but it also retains a certain dryness and fragility. This is a quality that suited Redon's sensibility. The pastels' delicate application speaks volumes about the creative process here. The color is not blended and smoothed, but rather hatched and stippled, giving a sense of movement and vibration. With this drawing medium, there's a sense of intimacy and connection to the materials, a quality that aligns with the values of craft. By embracing the immediacy and the inherent qualities of the pastel sticks, Redon transcends the traditional hierarchy between fine art and craft, inviting us to appreciate the beauty of his methods, as well as the finished composition.