Flowers in a Red Pitcher 1900

Odilon Redon created this vibrant yet melancholic still life, Flowers in a Red Pitcher, sometime before his death in 1916. The red pitcher brims with an assortment of flowers: pansies, daisies, and roses. The rose, often associated with Venus, embodies love and beauty, yet here, its pale hue hints at fragility. The vibrant pansies, from the French ‘pensée’ or thought, traditionally evoke remembrance and reflection, while the daisies suggest innocence and purity. This combination is not new; floral arrangements have been employed since antiquity. Consider the ‘memento mori’ paintings of the Renaissance, where flowers symbolized the transience of life. Like those vanitas paintings, Redon's flowers capture a sense of fleeting beauty, stirring a powerful emotional response. The cyclical nature of growth and decay speaks to our own mortality, resonating through the ages in art and the collective unconscious.