Color revisited

Cave painting Lascaux,France

In the begining man used iron oxide and charcoal as pigments.




Tiziano Vecellio, Assunta, 1516-1518, Santa Maria gloriosa dei Frari, Venezia

Titien used Vermillon(mercury sulfide mineral,cinnabar,very toxic)




"The Milkmaid" Johannes Vermeer 1660

Vermeer used Indian yellow(from the urine of cattle fed only mango leaves),lapis lazuli and carmine(dried cochineal beetle).






Death of Sardanapalus Delacroix, 1828

I don't want to give a history of color, I'm just skimming over time to illustrate a little how our aesthetics have changed. In the need to express themselves the artist has used the means at hand. The caveman used iron oxide(red earth) and charcoal from his fire. As time went on we became more travelled so the artist's palette became more complexe. Unfortunately many of the pigments were found to be toxic(cinnabar), inhumane(indian yellow) or simply to expensive(lapis lazuli), so we synthesized color and the modern era began. In 1841 the first paint tubes came into being and art changed even more, now the artist could paint "en plein aire". Artists started using photography(Delacroix) as an aid. In general morals were loosening, content and form adapted to the new aesthetic.





"The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Hokusai 1832

Hokusai used prussian blue, the first synthetic color to be produced(1706).






Venice Twilight Monet 1908




Black Square,Kazimir Malevich, c. 1915






BLAM, Roy Lichtenstein, 1962. oil



Ralph's Diner (1982),Ralph Goings, Oil on canvas.

Photorealist painters like Goings relied totally on photographs, but still used oil paint as a medium









Maui Kelley Walker 2001 CD Rom and Poster on canvas 7 x 9 ft


Today many artist's depend on digital photo reproductions and acrylic paint.

The work presented here gives a quick look at the changes in art through color and the changing subject matter. Today the artist doesn't really have to know how to paint, it is of secondary importance, he wants to get across his idea and uses the materials at hand, like we always have!