The Heart Of The Rose 1891 - 1892

Elihu Vedder painted The Heart of the Rose in oil on canvas, probably in the 1890s. The painting shows a nude woman curled within the petals of a rose, which are rendered as swirling drapery. Vedder, an American artist, spent much of his career in Italy. Like many artists in Europe and the United States, Vedder was captivated by symbolism. The symbolists turned away from industrial society and instead favored spirituality, dreams, and the inner life. The turn of the century was a time of widespread social anxiety, as people felt unsettled by rapid changes. Artists like Vedder offered an escape, imagining a world far removed from the realities of modern life. The woman in Vedder's painting seems lost in her own thoughts, undisturbed by anything outside the rose. To understand symbolism better, we can read the art criticism of the time, visit exhibitions of symbolist art, and research the cultural context in which these artists worked. The meaning of art is always contingent on the society that produces it.