Colored artworks
The work of color is central in any artistic work. It is even one of the first tools of the artist. It is difficult to imagine a work that would exist without the working of color - even if it is the absence of color that the artist chooses to present.
Through the ages and artistic movements, the use and meaning attributed to color evolves, but the essence of color remains the same. Every artist must master the properties of color in order to control his composition. In the restoration of paintings, color even becomes a science, because it is necessary to know the different molecules to find the colors and mixtures originally used by the artist.
In the history of art, the importance of color fluctuates according to periods and geographical areas. During the Italian Renaissance, for example, there was a debate (called Paragone) between the authority of color versus drawing: according to the schools, it is the color, and not the line, that creates the emotion and visual power of a work of art. The colors thus take on an immense importance, and assume certain meanings: white symbolizes purity for example, and blue (systematically used to clothe the Virgin Mary) is associated with divinity. These symbols are not thought of randomly: the purple for example, is used since the Byzantine era to signify the highest rank of royalty. Unlike ochre, the purple pigment came from a specific shell, and was extremely difficult - and therefore rare, and expensive - to obtain.
More generally, colors can be divided into three categories: warm, cool, and neutral. As their name implies, these classes of colors give off an atmosphere that the painter can use to influence the emotion of his work. Baroque art, for example, manipulates the contrasts between warm and cold colors to capture the power of bodies. The play of light is exalted by the effects of color. For a long time, the traditional Western school of painting required painters to reproduce the colors of the environment around them. It was the Impressionists, in the 19th century, who explored other ways of seeing - and therefore of transcribing on canvas - their chromatic environment. By avoiding complex mixtures and painting spontaneously, in the open air, the Impressionists reinvented the use of color to reproduce reality.
It was not until abstract and subjective painting that art devoted itself to color as a subject. Mark Rothko, precursor of the Colorfield Painting movement and of abstract expressionism, sees in his paintings a living organism whose color is human and whose format is transcendent. Piet Mondrian, on the other hand, sought in his paintings to approach the very essence of nature through the purity of primary colors, to achieve abstraction. The founder of the Russian avant-garde movement of Suprematism, Kasimir Malevich, will disturb the senses of everyone with his work "White square on white background", in which the color is painted only for itself. Contemporary art, photography, collage, or pop art also use in their respective ways the resources of color, exploring indefinitely all its pluralities. As Picasso said, "When I have no blue, I use red."
Artsper writes art in color: discover below a great selection of works that honor color and its properties. What better way to brighten up an interior?
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“Encounters 4.0” Framed Painting
Mariah Birsak
Painting - 80 x 120 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
€2,200
Sunny Day Treescape
Sumit Mehndiratta
Print - 103 x 68 x 0.5 cm Print - 40.6 x 26.8 x 0.2 inch
€1,000
Still life with fish
Anatoly Tarabanov
Painting - 60 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€505
Banc de poissons #16
David Jehan (B.boss)
Painting - 65 x 81 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 31.9 x 0.8 inch
€550
Abduction of Europa
Anatoly Tarabanov
Painting - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
€650
Zebras' booties
Matthieu Delfini
Painting - 146 x 97 x 2 cm Painting - 57.5 x 38.2 x 0.8 inch
€4,300
Le chat et le papillon
Vincent Bardou
Painting - 100 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
€2,800
Cecille is playing with her tail
Vladimir Kolosov
Painting - 61 x 61 x 1.9 cm Painting - 24 x 24 x 0.75 inch
€1,125
Un rongeur la nuit
Arnaud Dromigny
Painting - 42 x 59.4 x 2 cm Painting - 16.5 x 23.4 x 0.8 inch
€560
Le chien de l'Espace
Arnaud Dromigny
Painting - 42 x 59.4 x 2 cm Painting - 16.5 x 23.4 x 0.8 inch
€560
La romancière et ses chats
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 30 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
€380
Toys Anatomy Brick Bear Magenta
James Chiew
Print - 59 x 59 x 2 cm Print - 23.2 x 23.2 x 0.8 inch
€2,750
L'étreinte au clair d'ombre
Lisbeth Buonanno
Painting - 27 x 22 x 1.8 cm Painting - 10.6 x 8.7 x 0.7 inch
€750
Envolée de mots
Christine Marie Nobre
Painting - 40 x 40 x 3 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 1.2 inch
€760
Vaches salers dans la neige
Pol Ledent
Painting - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
€1,200
The previous day's dream
Zhivko Mutafchiev
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
€2,450
Space and Wind
Rakhmet Redzhepov (Ramzi)
Painting - 40 x 110 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 43.3 x 0.8 inch
€700
Cyanotypie Herbier sous marin N°1
Aurélie Trabaud
Painting - 100 x 148 x 1.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 58.3 x 0.6 inch
€1,280
LE BEAU VOYAGE DES CARPES KOÏ
Sophie Petetin
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€1,590
Hommage à Terry Pratchett
Albena Vatcheva
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€1,950
The Soul of Vietnam VI
Viet Ha Tran
Photography - 70.1 x 104.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.1 inch
€3,476
On the old quay
Zhivko Mutafchiev
Painting - 95 x 120 x 2.5 cm Painting - 37.4 x 47.2 x 1 inch
€2,500
Monkey with Butterfly
Hani Badawi Leo
Painting - 98 x 98 x 3 cm Painting - 38.6 x 38.6 x 1.2 inch
€2,000
Gorilla with Butterfly
Hani Badawi Leo
Painting - 148 x 98 x 3 cm Painting - 58.3 x 38.6 x 1.2 inch
€2,200
La mélodie du bonheur
Albena Vatcheva
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€2,999
Echappée bucolique de poules aux dents creuses sur une pittoresque colline ensoleillée avec vue en arrière-plan sur le lac de Serre-Ponçon aux ineffables reflets argentés quand des nuages s'y mirent.
Eric Bourdon
Painting - 65 x 54 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 21.3 x 0.8 inch
€1,500
Koi Fish on Yellow
Rakhmet Redzhepov (Ramzi)
Painting - 35 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 13.8 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€900
