The artwork “Portrait of Marie Botkine” was created by the artist Odilon Redon in the year 1900, employing pastel on paper as his medium. This artwork is an exemplar of the Symbolism art movement and is a portrait by genre. It measures 64 by 48 centimeters and is currently housed at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France.
The artwork presents a delicate and ethereal portrait of a woman, Marie Botkine, depicted with a contemplative expression. This work showcases a subtlety of color and form that is typical of Redon’s approach to pastels. The subject is adorned with a large, ornate hat that adds a note of grandeur to the composition while also framing her face and enhancing the introspective emotion conveyed. The dark feathered accessory atop the hat contrasts with the lighter hues surrounding her visage, drawing the viewer’s attention to her gaze.
Redon’s use of light and shadow plays with the contours of Marie Botkine’s features, giving the face a hauntingly beautiful quality that is common among the artist’s portrayal of subjects. There is an interplay of various textures and colors surrounding her, characteristic of Redon’s style and the Symbolist intention to evoke more than the visible, reaching toward the character’s psyche or the realm of ideas. The brushwork is loose, which allows for a sense of immediacy and intimacy, inviting the observer to ponder the subject’s inner thoughts or the emotions she may be experiencing.
