Woman in Profile with Flowers 

Editor: Here we have "Woman in Profile with Flowers" by Odilon Redon, residing at the Guggenheim. It seems to be executed in pastel or perhaps watercolor, though that remains unconfirmed. I'm struck by how dreamlike the work feels. What do you see in it? Curator: Ah, Redon, master of dreams and anxieties! The "Woman in Profile with Flowers" feels less like a portrait and more like an evocation. Do you notice how the woman almost dissolves into the floral background, how line blurs between them? I think he wanted to evoke the subtle harmony between inner life and external beauty, don't you think? Editor: I hadn't considered the harmony, more of an overlapping of realities, maybe even a struggle? Curator: A struggle, yes, a gorgeous struggle! Redon’s world wasn't always sweetness and light. There's an inherent melancholy, wouldn't you agree, in the fleeting nature of both beauty and life? Flowers bloom, but also, fade. The profile obscures, hinting at hidden emotions, or perhaps the unknowability of the self even to oneself. Do you think Redon believed our true selves are always partly obscured? Editor: That's beautifully put, and a little sad. I guess I had always viewed art as attempting to unveil. But I now see Redon’s view might be quite the contrary, exploring the beauty *in* the veiled, or the un-veiling *as* an act of melancholy, almost. Thanks for the clarification. Curator: And thank you for that lovely observation about un-veiling and melancholy, I shall tuck it away like a rare bloom myself. What a wonderful, fleeting visit with this subtle painting!