Closed Eyes 1899

Curator: So evocative... a kind of delicate sorrow seems to seep right out of this piece. Editor: You're right, there's something ethereal about it. What we’re looking at here is Odilon Redon's "Closed Eyes," from 1899. The medium is oil paint. The work can currently be found in a private collection. Curator: The oil paint lends itself well to the fuzziness... the colours feel faded, dreamy. I see it almost like a memory of something felt, not necessarily seen. I’m thinking about materiality here too, right? Oil paint as a manufactured substance; its availability and affordability changed the game for so many artists, making such widespread personal expression possible. Editor: That muted palette really works with the subject matter, doesn’t it? A face in repose, the title suggesting an interior world. Redon certainly played with Symbolist ideas. The closed eyes imply turning away from external reality. There’s something almost... devotional about it. Curator: Devotional, yes, I get that. The suggestion of a halo is impossible to ignore. And you know, thinking about process again... it is interesting to think how the 'stillness' of the subject is at odds with what I imagine must be very active mark-making. You can see Redon's hand so clearly in the layering. Editor: Exactly! Look at the raw texture around the head. It's rough. Almost violently so. Very physical application, I would suggest. Do you think that adds to the overall impact for you? Curator: Massively! It's almost unsettling, the contrast. It makes me question that initial feeling of quiet sadness. Editor: So, it is thought-provoking after all! A final moment of reflection before we move on... this piece serves as a potent reminder that 'seeing' is just as much about the unseen as the visible. Curator: Well put, in summary I now look at it as a celebration of the unseen made tangible through the skill and sweat that is paint!