Who painted Flowers Fall and the Head of a Python Appears?

Flowers Fall and the Head of a Python Appears was painted by Odilon Redon in 1896.

Where can I see Flowers Fall and the Head of a Python Appears?

Flowers Fall and the Head of a Python Appears is held by Cleveland Museum of Art.

What movement is Flowers Fall and the Head of a Python Appears?

Flowers Fall and the Head of a Python Appears is associated with Impressionism.

Can I buy a print of Flowers Fall and the Head of a Python Appears?

Museum-quality prints of Flowers Fall and the Head of a Python Appears are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

Flowers Fall and the Head of a Python Appears

Odilon Redon , 1896

Flowers Fall and the Head of a Python Appears is a print by the Impressionist artist Odilon Redon. It dates from 1896 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Accession no.: 2009.599
Credit line: Gift of Barry Bradley

About this work

Overview

Created in 1896, this print by French Symbolist Odilon Redon combines a cascade of falling flowers with the emerging head of a python. The composition is rendered in muted tones of brown and gray, giving the scene a subdued, almost nocturnal atmosphere. The work exemplifies Redon’s turn away from his earlier monochrome “noirs” toward a more color‑inflected, imaginative visual language.

Subject & Meaning

The falling blossoms suggest a fleeting, perhaps fragile beauty, while the snake’s head, partially concealed in shadow, evokes mystery and latent danger.

The image juxtaposes delicate botanical forms with the threatening presence of a serpent, merging natural and mythic elements. The falling blossoms suggest a fleeting, perhaps fragile beauty, while the snake’s head, partially concealed in shadow, evokes mystery and latent danger. This contrast aligns with Symbolist interests in the unconscious, dream imagery, and the tension between the serene and the unsettling.

Technique & Style

Redon employed the print medium to achieve a soft, velvety surface, using subtle gradations of tone to model both flora and the reptilian head. The limited palette of browns and grays emphasizes tonal depth rather than vivid coloration, while delicate shading creates a sense of depth and ambiguity, characteristic of his late‑period pastels and oils adapted to printmaking.

History & Provenance

The work belongs to Redon’s mature period, when he abandoned the stark charcoal “noirs” of his early career for more chromatic approaches. Though specific ownership details are sparse, the piece has been catalogued among his Symbolist prints from the 1890s and has appeared in several exhibitions highlighting the artist’s exploration of mythic and organic motifs.