Butterflies 1913

Odilon Redon made this painting, Butterflies, using oil on canvas. The colours are muted and earthy, like they've been quietly brewing for years, and the butterflies themselves are more like floating thoughts than actual insects. You get the sense that Redon was really feeling his way through this piece, letting it evolve as he went. The surface is so interesting, right? It’s not smooth or polished; you can see the texture of the canvas and the way the paint has been applied, almost like little dabs of colour that create these ethereal shapes. Look at the red butterfly near the bottom - the way the red bleeds into the canvas feels raw and immediate, like a fleeting emotion captured in paint. I think Redon would have loved Guston, for the way he embraced the ugly, the awkward, and the deeply personal in his work. Ultimately, this painting is about process, about embracing the unexpected, and finding beauty in ambiguity.