Anemones in a Jug 

Odilon Redon made this still life of anemones in a jug with pastels and crayon, though its exact date is unknown. Redon worked in France during a period of rapid social and artistic change, where institutions like the Académie des Beaux-Arts held significant influence. Though he exhibited with the Impressionists, Redon’s art was far removed from their depictions of modern life. Instead, he explored subjective experience. This artwork, with its dream-like quality and strange, almost hallucinatory colors, is exemplary of his Symbolist style. The art market embraced artists like Redon, precisely because their works did not overtly challenge social norms. The floral subject matter is conventional, but through formal innovation, Redon was able to express something novel. To properly understand works like these, historians consult exhibition reviews, artist biographies, and analyses of the era's broader cultural context, to try to determine the social function that artworks served.