Flowers 1903

Curator: I see an eruption of color. This reminds me of some of the paintings I saw in Parisian galleries of the day, except with a muted quality. Editor: Quite a powerful first impression. This is "Flowers," an oil painting by Odilon Redon created in 1903. What draws your eye, initially? Curator: The vase appears grounded but the blossoms float; I see it as a collection of faces or presences gathered closely. Note also the lack of visible brushstrokes, adding to that sense of dreamy otherworldliness. It pulls you in. Editor: For me, it’s all about the layered textures—the oil applied almost like pastel, the heavy darkness of the vase. It's intriguing to think about the sheer volume of paint Redon used, and the time invested to get these luminous, layered colors, especially given how some felt this undermined academic notions of skillful art-making. Curator: Considering Redon’s shift from dark lithographs to vibrant colors later in life, do you find the floral subject matter, so common in art history, almost… ironic? As though he's deliberately choosing a safe trope to explore personal anxieties and internal conflict, in the only socially-acceptable medium he could imagine at the time? Editor: I wouldn't say ironic, but rather that Redon may be transforming familiar still life imagery into something distinctly modern. His process and materiality, in rejecting slick precision for a kind of tactile impressionism, feel disruptive and rebellious for the era. Think of what industrial products of the era looked like, precise and ordered, versus this unruly organic image, this almost uncontrolled flower bouquet. Curator: Perhaps we are both getting at something similar. In my interpretation, the painting shows him struggling to show the flowers the way other painters are showing the world and yet these are internal struggles with personal meaning and values. Editor: The painting as a record of an artist working through their thoughts in pigment and brushstrokes. A material record of an immaterial world of ideas. A beautiful sentiment, I think. Curator: Indeed, a powerful glimpse into one soul’s landscape.