Bouquet of Flowers

Artist:: Odilon Redon (French, Bordeaux 1840–1916 Paris)

Date:: probably ca. 1905

Medium:: Pastel on paper

Dimensions:: 31 5/8 x 25 1/4 in. (80.3 x 64.1 cm)

Classification:: Drawings

Credit Line:: Gift of Mrs. George B. Post, 1956

Accession Number:: 56.50

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 813

As a young man, Redon was fascinated with Darwinian biology and enjoyed a close friendship with Armand Clavaud, the curator of the botanical gardens in his hometown of Bordeaux. In late floral still lifes such as this one, the artist demonstrated a naturalist’s sense of wonder as well as a richly inventive imagination, combining many different types of blooms and foliage in an effervescent display, attended by fluttering butterflies.

Inscription: Signed (lower center): ODILON REDON

[Jacques Seligmann, Paris; shipped to New York]; [Jacques Seligmann, New York, until 1932; sold October 18, as "Fleurs dans un vase bleu" to Post]; Mr. and Mrs. George B. Post, New York (1932–his d. 1952); Mrs. George B. Post (Olivia Dulany), New York (1952–56)

Klaus Berger. Odilon Redon: Fantasy and Colour. New York, 1965, p. 215, no. 454, includes it in a list of "Flower-Pieces, II, Objective Portrayal of Space, 1900–04/05", calling it "Patterned Vase with Anemones (vase 9)"; dates it about 1905.

Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, XIX–XX Centuries. New York, 1967, p. 9, ill., date it about 1905; remark that the vase belongs to Redon's son, Ari.

Alec Wildenstein. Odilon Redon: Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint et dessiné. Vol. 3, Fleurs et paysages. Paris, 1996, p. 120, no. 1535, ill.

Essays
Lithography in the Nineteenth Century
Symbolism

Timelines
France, 1900 A.D.–present

European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born before 1865: A Summary Catalogue

Department

European Paintings (2,556)

Artist / Maker / Culture

Odilon Redon (49)

Object Type / Material

Drawings (31,347)

Paper (28,330)

Pastels (560)

Geographic Location