Portrait of Genevieve de Gonet as a Child 1907

Curator: Oh, there's a sweetness here, almost dreamlike. The little girl with the serious, slightly melancholic gaze... I wonder what she's thinking? Editor: We're looking at Odilon Redon's 1907 "Portrait of Genevieve de Gonet as a Child". The piece, privately held, is worked in pastel and gouache. Notice how Redon uses the media to almost dissolve the form. Curator: Exactly! It's like she's emerging from a hazy garden, her figure not quite defined, more felt than seen. I'm drawn to the way the pastel creates this soft, almost ethereal atmosphere, particularly around her face. You almost expect her to fade away, like a lovely memory. Editor: The choice of materials absolutely impacts how we engage with this portrait. Pastel lends itself to such softness. You can almost feel the process – the application, the layering, the almost fragile nature of the pastel itself. The blending also minimizes class boundaries; Redon moves comfortably between the ‘high’ art of painting and the associations of pastel work with feminine leisure, craft, and surface design. Curator: I agree completely. It’s that merging that makes it feel so intimate. I feel I'm intruding into a very private, quiet moment. It's amazing how the simplest colours - pinks, blues, greens - create such depth of emotion. Almost otherworldly and sad at the same time... the background seems to swarm. Editor: The floral patterns almost read as a wallpaper, framing and containing her within a specific social space, an upper-class interior that might not welcome women's artistic labour except on the surface. Note how her white dress signifies childhood innocence, further reinforcing these societal norms. Redon highlights a class positioning that could seem sentimental but might in fact subtly show its artifice. Curator: So fascinating how a seemingly innocent portrait holds so much. It challenges the idea of capturing likeness but really seeks to capture the child’s spirit and societal position at the time, not just what she looks like. Editor: It certainly prompts reflections beyond the aesthetic, doesn't it? Considering production shifts our reading considerably. Curator: Indeed! Well, what a tender but complicated encounter. It is difficult not to contemplate this little lady’s reality now. Editor: Very true. These fleeting portraits leave a lasting impression, that's for sure.