Vase of Flowers 

Odilon Redon created this still life, Vase of Flowers, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. It is an oil on canvas. Redon was working in France during a period of significant social change and the rise of modernism. In those days, the French Salon system maintained a strong grip on the art world, and still-life painting was often seen as a safe, academic genre. But as the art world started breaking into factions, artists like Redon began to subvert those expectations by exploring more subjective, dreamlike imagery. The vase of flowers, in this context, becomes less about botanical accuracy and more about capturing a mood or a feeling. Redon’s use of color and light creates a kind of dreamlike space. The painting's lack of a definite date only adds to this sense of ambiguity. To better understand this work, one might look at the writings of symbolist poets. Considering the artwork's critical reception at the time of its creation might also provide a better sense of how it was valued.