Odilon Redon

Galerie Moos, Geneva
Willy Russ-Young, Geneva
Private Collection, Switzerland (by descent from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Geneva, Galerie Krugier, Odilon Redon - Suites 13, 1967, no. 20, illustrated in the catalogue

Willy Russ, Mes peintures et mes sculptures préférées, Neuchâtel, 1956, illustrated p. 85
Alec Wildenstein, Odilon Redon, Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint et dessiné. Fleurs et paysages, Paris, 1996, vol. III, no. 1580, illustrated p. 147

The canvas is not lined and there are no signs of retouching under UV light. This work is in good original condition.
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The subject of the floral still-life preoccupied Redon throughout his career, but it was not until an exhibition at Durand-Ruel in the spring of 1906 that this theme began to dominate his work.  As Richard Hobbs has explained, '"These fragile scented beings, admirable prodigies of light", as he later described them, were providing him with a motif through which to develop the joyful and spiritual transformation of natural forms that is characteristic of so many of his colour works... He associated flowers with a delicate but fundamental kind of artistic expression. Flowers were becoming a theme of primary importance to Redon, both as motifs for experimentation with colour and as the expression of a personal lyricism' (Richard Hobbs, Odilon Redon, London, 1977, p. 139).

In the present work, Redon's daring use of colour reveals a confidence that characterizes his later compositions. Although the artist incorporated some colour into his earlier works, toward the turn of the century he began to allow vibrant hues to dominate the overall surfaces of his paintings.  According to John Rewald, 'André Masson... called Redon "perhaps the first really free colorist", crediting him with the demonstration of "the endless possibilities of lyrical chromatics". The figures and the faces, the aquatic fauna and the butterflies, but above all the unending succession of fabulous blossoms which Redon brought into existence made no pretense at representing natural truth.  They are, more often than not, prolongations of dreams, happy dreams vying with the splendors of the rainbow' (John Rewald, "Odilon Redon," in Odilon Redon, Gustave Moreau, Rodolphe Bresdin (exhibition catalogue), The Museum of Modern Art & The Art Institute of Chicago, 1962, p. 40).

The neutral backdrop of this work reflects the influence of Asian art, particularly the art of Japan. As in the Japanese woodblock prints, fans, and screens which became popular in Europe in the nineteenth century, Redon employed positive and negative space in order to maximize the impact of his seemingly straightforward subjects. By juxtaposing his abundant bouquet and green vase against a simple background, his flowers achieve a greater sense of dimensionality and importance. The precision inherent in these serene compositions exhibits the great care with which Redon addressed the theme of the floral still-life, and the mastery of his medium.