A Small Part of the History of Blue
Photo: This is the Color of My Dreams
Joan Miro, 1925
There was very little blue in the ancient world. It took all cultures a very long time to name the colour. None of the ancient languages had a proper word for blue. In modern European languages the origin of the word blue comes from the Middle English 'bleu' or 'blewe', these are related to the Old High German word 'blao', meaning shimmering or lustrous.
Today blue is considered the world's favourite colour. We find many uses of it in our speech, blue book, blue collar, blue plate special, once in a blue moon, blue chip, and having the blues. The meanings vary greatly, some denote special or excellence and other times it is used as a slur or to cover a feeling of sadness. Blue is the colour most commonly associated with harmony, faithfulness, confidence, distance, infinity, imagination, and cold. It is also associated with intelligent, knowledge, calm and concentration.
The Ancient Egyptians placed a high value on the colour blue. They used lapis lazuli and azurite in their jewelry and artwork and set about producing a substance to reproduce the colour they adored. From the time Egyptian Blue was first manufactured, about 2500 BC, it was used frequently in papyri, hieroglyphics on walls and as a glaze on funeral objects and decorated coffins. In 2006, a scientist discovered that Egyptian blue glows under fluorescent light. This has helped immensely in identifying the colour on ancient artifacts, even when you can't see it with the naked eye.
Egyptian Blue
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The painters of the Renaissance coveted the pigment Ultramarine, made from lapis lazuli in an extremely labour intensive process, but it had a vibrancy like no other blue. Called True Blue, lapis lazuli first appeared as a pigment in the 6th century. It was renamed Ultramarine, meaning 'beyond the sea' in Latin, when first imported into Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was high sought after by artists but in order to use it you had to be wealthy, or have a wealthy benefactor, as it was considered to be as precious as gold.
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer, 1665
The first synthetic blue pigment since the Egyptians was created in Germany by Heinrich Diesbach. In trying to mix a different pigment called 'red lake', Diesbach used a contaminated potash and created a new blue called Prussian Blue. Like ultramarine it was a vibrant blue, didn't fade, but could be made for a fraction of the price. Katsushika Hokusai used it in his iconic 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa. In 1842 it was discovered that Prussian Blue had a unique sensitivity to light and was therefor perfect to create copies of drawings. This is what led to the modern blueprint.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa Katsushika Hokusai 1831
Cobalt Blue dates to the 8th century and was used to colour ceramic and jewelry. It was very popular in China and used in the distinctive blue and white patterned porcelain. A French chemist created and alumina based version that was quickly in commercial production and used by painters, such as Renoir and Van Gogh, as an alternative to the expensive ultramarine.
The brighter blue swirling sky and the area surrounding the moon are predominantly Cobalt Blue.
The Starry Night Vincent Van Gogh 1889
The process of making indigo seems to have been discovered independently and at different times around the world. The arrival of the new blue dye called 'indigo' shook up the European textile trade in the 16th century. There are many different species of plants that produce indigo but the most popular is 'indigofera tinctoria'. The process of extracting the dye from the leaves is difficult even with modern chemicals and equipment. It is worthwhile though to achieve the vivid colour and it ages beautifully as all of us denim wearers know. From being a luxury, indigo has become the colour of the 'blue collar' workforce world wide. This has proved to be the pigment's most lasting legacy in the form of blue jeans. Said to have peaked in 2006, the global denim industry, which is dominated by the classic indigo blue, was worth $54 billion in 2011.
Artist Ian Berry uses denim exclusively in his artwork.
The Game
#iclapfor
For more information on Blue, and gold and white check out:
The History of Art in Three Colours with Dr. James Fox on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peh1_VEtzP8
All the episodes were great but Blue was my favourite!
An excellent site on the meaning of colours
https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-blue/
Reference books:
The Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia St.Clair
The Secret Language of Colour by Joann Eckstut and Arielle Eckstut
Jeanette
Jeanette is working on a bird for each colour. Here is her progress so far.
Cathy
The one on the left is paper pieced. The one on the right is a back of a quilt I made about fifteen years ago which was embroidered by one of our guild members with ‘blue words’.
Cath
I used Jeanette's idea of the thread work circles and made a Blue Moon from it. Had fun with my stitch regulator on the free motion part. There is some metallic and some sliver in the long rays.
Christine
A river runs through Christine's piece.
Elisabeth
