1908 (ca.), Odilon Redon, Ophelia among the Flowers -- National Gallery (London)
From the museum label: Redon worked exclusively in black-and-white until 1895. Here he uses pure, unblended pastel to create a luminous eruption of colour. This is one of his many depictions of Ophelia, the tragic heroine who drowns in Shakespeare's Hamlet. However, the sketch-like figure may have been added at a late stage, turning the floral composition into a meditation on doomed youth. Less than two decades before, Redon had witnessed his own friend die by drowning.
1908 (ca.), Odilon Redon, Ophelia among the Flowers -- National Gallery (London)
From the museum label: Redon worked exclusively in black-and-white until 1895. Here he uses pure, unblended pastel to create a luminous eruption of colour. This is one of his many depictions of Ophelia, the tragic heroine who drowns in Shakespeare's Hamlet. However, the sketch-like figure may have been added at a late stage, turning the floral composition into a meditation on doomed youth. Less than two decades before, Redon had witnessed his own friend die by drowning.