Bouquet de fleurs au mimosa

Mimosa — the bright yellow powderpuff flowers of the Acacia species — was a quintessential southern French and Mediterranean motif by the early twentieth century, associated with the warmth and light of the Côte d'Azur that many Parisian artists sought during northern winters. This undated cardboard by Redon, held at the Musée d'Orsay, belongs to his extensive series of bouquet paintings in which fresh and imaginary flowers co-exist in arrangements that transcend botanical taxonomy. Mimosa's intense chrome yellow, set against the blues and purples Redon favoured in backgrounds, provided one of the most extreme complementary contrasts available to a painter — a colour juxtaposition that verges on visual vibration. The bouquet format recurs throughout his late career as a structure flexible enough to accommodate any combination of colours and forms, from the naturalistic to the purely invented.

Oil on cardboard with a warm-dominated colour scheme built around the intense yellows of mimosa blossom. The golden-yellow of the mimosa clusters is rendered with dense, textured paint that gives the flowers a physical presence. Surrounding foliage uses cool grey-green tones that maximise the complementary push between yellow and violet-blue. The background carries the deep, atmospheric tones characteristic of Redon's bouquet paintings.