Devotion near a red bush 1905

Odilon Redon made this dreamlike painting called ‘Devotion near a red bush’ using pastel on paper. Look at the way the colours are smudged and blended, and the figures seem to float in and out of focus! I'm thinking about Redon, standing there, blurring the lines between the spiritual and earthly realms with each stroke. What was he thinking as he built up these layers of color? Maybe he was thinking about other symbolist painters. I find myself wondering if he wanted to create a scene that exists more in our minds than in reality. That red bush – it's like a flame, right? It draws the eye and ignites the whole composition, like the figures are kind of drawn to it. You see how Redon let the pastel almost dissolve into the paper? It’s this quality that makes it so magical. Painters build on each other’s ideas, and Redon’s paintings definitely continue to spark my own.