The Birth of Venus 1912

Odilon Redon painted 'The Birth of Venus', probably in oil, with a color palette that feels like a dream you can almost touch. It's like the paint itself is breathing, a real testament to artmaking as a process of discovery. What gets me are the swirls and strokes that form the giant shell, it’s like a cosmic cradle. Redon doesn't hide the physicality of the paint; it's thick, alive, and you can almost feel the texture. And look at that creature to the right, is it another shell, a strange sea beast, or a fragment of a dream? It's all so ambiguous. Redon reminds me a little of Gorky, that same sense of searching, of not quite knowing, but embracing the mystery. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t need to answer questions, it just needs to keep the conversation going.