Parfois on trouve un vieux flacon qui se souvient, d’ou jaillit toute vive une ame qui revient 1890

Editor: This intriguing drawing, “Parfois on trouve un vieux flacon qui se souvient, d’ou jaillit toute vive une ame qui revient” by Odilon Redon, from 1890, rendered in pencil, possesses such a surreal quality. It’s this sense of a figure contained, perhaps struggling for release, that really strikes me. What can you tell me about it? Curator: The use of pencil here is quite deliberate, wouldn’t you say? Think about what that suggests regarding the means of production. It’s immediate, relatively inexpensive, and widespread. How does this accessibility influence your understanding of the art itself? Editor: It feels more raw and less refined somehow... less exclusive. So, does the material indicate a certain kind of intent or message then? Curator: Potentially. We could see it as Redon choosing a medium that blurs the lines between high art and more accessible forms. How does that contrast with the symbolic, even esoteric, imagery he uses? Is he democratizing the message, or creating a tension? Editor: So he is perhaps making symbolic subject matter accessible by using commonplace material to make the drawing? And is the reference to a flask or bottle as a container a commentary on commodity? Curator: Exactly! We see these ideas around containment and potential liberation echoed both in the subject and in the materials themselves. The very act of drawing with a simple pencil becomes a key component of the work’s meaning, challenging our expectations of value and artistic creation. What do you think about the depiction of the subject in such an accessible medium? Editor: It gives me a completely different way to see pencil drawing as a medium! I had never considered the materials could add a voice to the artwork. Curator: And that awareness of process, material, and production, ultimately enriches our understanding of the artist's vision.