“Still Life with Flowers” by Odilon Redon is a chromatic symphony where reality and imagination intertwine with delicacy.
In a vase with indistinct contours, a lush bouquet blooms against an atmospheric background of ochre and celadon tones. The flowers—scarlet poppies, immaculate daisies, and blue corollas—seek not so much realism as the evocation of a transfigured nature. Here, Redon liberates vegetal forms to let them float in a dreamlike space, populated by diaphanous butterflies that seem to emerge from the canvas itself.
The brushwork is sometimes precise, sometimes vaporous, creating a striking contrast between substance and apparition. Vibrant colors emerge from a misty background, like thoughts taking form in a dreamer’s mind. The artist transcends the traditional genre of still life to offer us a visual meditation where each flower becomes a symbol, each hue an emotion.
Additional Information
- Title: Still Life with Flowers by Odilon Redon, 1905
- Dimensions: 92.7 x 65.5 cm (36 1/2 x 25 3/4 in.)
- Location: The Art Institute of Chicago, exhibited in Gallery 245, European Paintings and Sculpture
- https://www.artic.edu/artworks/110982/still-life-with-flowers
Odilon Redon (1840-1916) had an atypical career, transitioning from his “noirs”—charcoal drawings and dark lithographs populated with strange creatures—to a late period brilliant with color.
This 1905 painting belongs to this second phase when, after the age of fifty, the artist discovered the chromatic magic of pastel and oils. Influenced by Symbolism but escaping any school, Redon developed a unique pictorial language at the crossroads of reality and fantasy. His work, rediscovered by the Surrealists, celebrates the power of imagination and the exploration of inner worlds.
