...d'abord une flaque d'eau 1888

Curator: I find myself immediately drawn into the deep chiaroscuro of this lithograph. There's a dreamlike, almost nightmarish quality. Editor: Let's delve into this enigmatic work by Odilon Redon, created in 1888, titled "...d'abord une flaque d'eau", which translates to "...first a puddle of water." It resides here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Curator: Water. Interesting. Though it feels more subterranean, primordial to me. See those figures emerging from the shadows? Their upward gazes—they're not seeking the sun. It feels almost like a collective trauma being unearthed. Editor: Redon's symbolic style is definitely at play. The downward angle, the murky light, the sense of figures suspended—water holds profound symbolic weight. Puddles are liminal spaces, mirroring and distorting reality, representing both reflection and the unconscious. Curator: Absolutely. And look at how Redon manipulates light. It's almost weaponized, cutting through the darkness to expose vulnerability. This speaks to broader discourses of the late 19th century: anxieties around industrialization, shifting social norms. Are these figures complicit, victimized, or rising up? The ambiguity itself is the statement. Editor: Considering Redon's context in France at that time, this work acts like a cultural memory. This was a period preoccupied with spiritualism and the unseen, with Symbolists looking for meaning beyond realism, and here the symbol of rising from the depths can speak about evolution and adaptation to an ever changing world. Curator: Precisely. A puddle seems like a minor thing but we can explore how he manages to portray collective cultural upheaval with subtle symbolic violence that lingers even now. Editor: Indeed. It leaves me contemplating the power of single symbols within complex societal struggles and transitions.