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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Colored artworks

Bowie

Twiggy

Jimi Hendrix

Untitled

Poussière d'étoile

Where does it come from, and where does it go when it goes?

Portrait 2

"Jeux de balles" abstrait acrylique sable poudre de marbre bristol marouflé sur bois 80x80cm 2009

The Sadness Planet

Le pays des sources N°19

The Fear Planet

The Excitement Planet

The Disgust Planet

The Broken Hearts Planet

The Broken Planet

Passionnément

Instant tanné 5

Flore Essence

Volupté

Éternité

12 Mois

Vice versa

Fête foraine

Grigal

Soleil rouge

Bouche de métro

Spiritual Realm 2

Venise

Full rotation

Essayer des mots

Cintas y sombras cruzadas

Icono abanderado

Petals-After Image of Love

Heart

Douce France

14 Flats

24 Flats

Coloured silos

Jorge's kitchen

Alcachofas con nueces. From "Bodegon" Series

Limones II. From "Bodegon" Series

Cerezas. From the bodegon series

Cebollas con alcachofas. From the bodegon series

Peras con bandeja II. From the bodegon series

Peras en almibar de vino rojo II

Les enfants perdus - chronique albanaise 4

Horses

Yurikane

Le pays des sources N°16

Identities

Vase Buste Atlas

Prenez un peu de recul

ST 8

ST 7

Sans titre N°5

Sans titre N°3

Sans titre N°1

Holy Cry

Boom

Ligne 33

Mes souliers jaune

The scarf

Cabriolet 1

Fun Slide

Thank you

Welcome To Miami Beach