Ophelia 1905

This is Odilon Redon’s Ophelia. Just imagine him, maybe in his studio, working with pastels. Look at the yellows and oranges in the background, like a strange sunset. I see him smudging and blending those colors, building up layers of atmosphere. Then, the burst of blues, reds, and greens in the foreground – are they flowers, or some kind of dream plants? Maybe Redon was thinking about Shakespeare’s Ophelia, driven mad and surrounded by nature, or maybe it's just a feeling... I feel like he's creating a world that’s both beautiful and unsettling. There’s a lot of texture here, especially in the way he layers the pastel strokes, building up a tactile surface, and that one dark smudge of green – what does it mean? What’s amazing is that he’s not just depicting something, he’s inventing a feeling. Painters are always inspiring each other, riffing on ideas, across time. They allow painting to embrace ambiguity, giving space for multiple readings.