Les Anemones (Still Life with Anemones) c. 1900 - 1910

Odilon Redon made this painting of anemones, sometime around the turn of the century, with oil on canvas. Look at how the flowers have a kind of fuzzy edge, created from lots of little brushstrokes, like he's gently patting the paint on. This gives a feeling of softness, but also of something not quite in focus, like a memory. Redon's handling of paint has a dreamlike quality. The colors are intense, but they're also blended and blurred, creating this really interesting tension between the vibrant hues and the overall hazy atmosphere. The vase itself is covered in these semi-abstracted shapes that echo the blooms above, as if they're melting into each other. I keep coming back to that single white flower, slightly drooping, like it's whispering secrets. There's something about Redon's work that reminds me of Gustave Moreau, another artist who explored the realms of dreams and the imagination. They both seem to suggest that art isn't about capturing reality, but about creating new worlds.