Apparition 1905 - 1910

Curator: Welcome. Before us is "Apparition," an oil painting created by Odilon Redon, dating from about 1905 to 1910. Editor: It's striking! Ethereal figures practically dissolve into a fever dream of colors and forms. Is that… a vase of hallucinogenic flora in the foreground? Curator: Precisely! Redon's late work moved into richer color, continuing to explore dream states and subjective experiences. The vase overflowing with almost monstrous flowers likely holds a layered symbolic meaning. Consider the contrast between the ephemeral beauty of the blooms and their somewhat disquieting, fantastical character. Editor: The materiality is crucial, look at the density of the paint. It is clearly applied, creating thick textures. How do you think this emphasis on texture influences how we perceive the “apparition”? Curator: The surface certainly complicates things, doesn’t it? Redon invites the viewer to contemplate both the real and imagined through layering and revealing of past marks. Flowers, traditionally symbols of beauty and fragility, take on darker connotations. Perhaps they represent fleeting moments, distorted memories. Note how the figures on the right are shrouded in mist, ghosts of reality and dreams. Editor: Do we know anything about Redon's studio practice or the socio-economic contexts that impacted how he made such choices, specifically the texture of paint? I think this heavy handling points us toward a specific reading, perhaps an internal struggle given his means. Curator: It's intriguing to speculate. What's clear is that Redon consciously moved against naturalism. Instead, he conjured these intensely personal inner worlds, fueled by Symbolist ideas and Romantic explorations of the psyche. The image can act as an iconographic portal into Redon's artistic intent. Editor: Right, so, perhaps instead of thinking so strictly in terms of social contexts for "production", it would be more rewarding to investigate consumption, so that we can reveal our psychological response through visual analysis. He’s made this painting so richly strange for us to experience something deeply. Curator: Yes, the emphasis should lie on that symbolic intent. What might viewers draw from this complex work over time? What collective dreams and fears might they bring to it? Editor: The way the materials reflect how social or cultural meanings are transformed once the materials have lost touch with its maker. Very thought-provoking indeed.