Poppies and Daisies in a Blue Vase 

Odilon Redon created "Poppies and Daisies in a Blue Vase", with pastel on paper. Redon, living through the tumult of late 19th century France, forged a path away from realism toward the subjective realms of Symbolism. "Poppies and Daisies" is a vibrant study in contrasts; the domestic tranquility of flowers in a vase, disrupted by the intensity of color and form. The poppies, traditionally symbols of sleep and oblivion, possess a carnal red, clashing with the purity of the daisies. This tension embodies Redon's Symbolist aim to capture interior states of being, where beauty and unease coexist. He once said his art was one that, "places the viewer in a state of uncertainty." In this piece, the viewer is invited into an emotional space, colored with a sense of dream-like introspection. Redon elevates the still life beyond a simple arrangement of objects, creating a space to consider our own fragile, interior lives.