Artwork
Etruscan Vase with Flowers
Etruscan Vase with Flowers is a tempera painting by the Symbolist artist Odilon Redon. It dates from 1905 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
1 cm in width, providing a vertical format suited to the still-life arrangement of a vase and flowers.
Etruscan Vase with Flowers is executed in tempera on canvas, a medium choice consistent with Odilon Redon's mature practice of working in tempera rather than oil. The support measures 81.3 cm in height by 59.1 cm in width, providing a vertical format suited to the still-life arrangement of a vase and flowers. The use of tempera allows for the matte, layered handling characteristic of Redon's floral compositions, in which form and color are built up through successive applications on the canvas support. The painting dates to 1905 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
The work is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inventoried as 1975.1.216. No further exhibition history or prior ownership details are documented in the available sources.
Overview
Etruscan Vase with Flowers, painted by French Symbolist Odilon Redon in 1905, exemplifies the artist's later embrace of color. Executed in tempera, this still life marks a significant departure from his earlier monochromatic charcoal drawings and lithographs, known as noirs. The work showcases Redon's mature style, where he explored subjective and dreamlike imagery through vibrant hues, contributing to the Symbolist movement's emphasis on inner experience. It is presently housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a substantial, striped vase filled with large, rounded orange and yellow flowers, accented by purple foliage. Intriguingly, the vase bears a small, almost incongruous painted scene featuring two diminutive figures. This detail, alongside the overall ethereal quality of the depiction, aligns with Symbolist principles, inviting contemplation beyond mere representation.
Redon often imbued everyday objects with a sense of mystery, transforming a simple still life into a vehicle for subjective experience and imaginative suggestion.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; French: ; 20 April 1840 – 6 July 1916) was a French Symbolist draftsman, printmaker, and painter.
