HEAVEN IS THERE. (2023)Painting by Bart Van Zweeden.
The world's simplest explanation
In order to talk about primary colors, I started compulsively searching the web for the topic in question, finding the narrative about it disseminated by Wikipedia very satisfactory, as well as fairly detailed, historical and scientific. In any case, I did not read it, because it was too long, complicated and boring for my brain now accustomed to watching, one after another, useless Instagram reels. So, thinking of you like myself, I decided to explain to you as easily as possible what primary colors are, which, in a second intent, I want to illustrate by means of some color-themed masterpieces of art history. In any case, in this second intent, the most famous works of art history will only be mentioned, as I want to introduce you to other paintings as well, which, though less well known, have made magenta (which is a shade of red), cyan (which is a shade of blue) and yellow in question speak. Here, I have already revealed what only the primary hues are, without yet telling you, however, why it is precisely the latter. Let us imagine that we stand in a painter's studio and observe his palette, it will duly present the three colors mentioned above, as these cannot be obtained by any kind of chromatic combination, while, at the same time, the primary colors, when combined with other shades, can give rise to all the hues present on the chromatic palette (secondary colors). Now that you know, without too much complication, what primary colors are, you are ready to learn about "lesser known" paintings by famous masters, part of the endless narrative of the figurative arts, which will also present more contemporary points of view, embodied by three Artmajeur artists. Ready? Let's start with red!
BIGFOOT XS (2021)Sculpture by Idan Zareski.
RED (2022)Painting by Gerard Jouannet.
Masterpieces in red
When talking about works of art in red, the brightest art historians, amateurs and students get ready to step in, tickling their hands, pens and whatnot, to immediately name Titian, Manet, Sargent, Kandinsky and Rothko, referring to their Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami (1509), Madame Monet in a Japanese Kimono (1876), Dr. Pozzi at Home (1881), Mit Und Gegen (1929) and No. 301 (1959). If I asked the aforementioned experts to find "lesser-known" but equally worthy works to represent the color red, they would probably start arguing, resulting in a fight with an extremely subjective flavor. In the case of the color of passion par excellence, I decided, after taking part in the aforementioned brawl, to talk about a very curious masterpiece, if conceived within the entire oeuvre of the king of Pop art par excellence: Andy Warhol. I am referring to Red Lenin (1987), a silkscreen print that was part of a series that the master made before his death at the suggestion of his gallerist Bernd Klüser, who showed Andy a photograph of Lenin as a young man, in order to make Warhol's art, aimed mainly at reproducing the stereotypical icons of everyday life in America, take a new direction, having as its subject matter counter-trend images. In contemporary art, however, red speaks to us intensely in the foreground portrait, titled Face to Face, by Viktor Sheleg, an Artmajeur painter who used the color in question both in the background and on certain parts of the model's body, namely the more expressive and sensual parts of the eyes and mouth. What has just been described is sometimes beyond the scope of the best-known works that used red, which used to show the color in question often only in the clothes of the depicted subjects, tuning them tonally to the background only on particular occasions, such as that of the well-known, as well as aforementioned, Dr. Pozzi at Home (1881). This last masterpiece by Sargent is intended to externalize all the admiration the painter had for his model, a celebrated pioneer in gynecology whose practices promoted reproductive safety as well as the dignity of women. Pozzi, who was also an aesthete and an art collector, was portrayed, albeit somewhat informally, in the manner of a man from the ecclsiastical world, presenting a graceful and somewhat mannered pose that reminds us of the images of popes and cardinals by the Old Masters. In any case, the whole is charged with a lively sensuality, given not only by the homely robe and velvet curtains but also by the long, alegant hands of the effigy, perhaps alluding to his great surgical skill. Let us now turn to the blue!
LISTENING BLUE (2023)Photography by Ziesook You
SHARING SECRETS (2023)Painting by Elli Popa
Masterpieces in Blue
The color scheme in question again leads us to list the best-known masterpieces, moving on to less famous ones later, followed by an example of the contemporary. So, as far as blue is concerned we can easily think of: Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress (1659) by Diego Velázquez, The Old Guitarist (1903) by Pablo Picasso, The Starry Night (1889) by Vincent Van Gog, and Blue Painting (1924) by Vassily Kandinsky. We could also add to this popular list the less recurring The Conversation (1903-1912) by Matisse and The blue landscape (1949) by Chagall, paintings that I wanted to juxtapose because of affinity of subject, as both depict a man and a woman in an intimate situation. Beginning with the French master, his masterpiece immortalizes the central figures of the painter himself and his wife Amelie, executed in a somewhat schematic and simplified manner. Everything is thus rendered to give voice to a moment in the artist's real life, always ready, as revealed by himself, to grasp "the truest and deepest meaning behind it," in order to provide a more coherent interpretation. This depth is echoed in the predominance of the color blue, which, filling much of the pictorial support, also determines the very concept of space, which lends itself to making emotional and meaningful, as well as somewhat cold. The same hue occupies almost the entire surface of Chagall's work, in which a couple embraces tightly while their gazes remain distant. Of the two, it is definitely the man who shows the most involvement, as he is caught caressing his beloved in a romantic gesture, which is crowned by the presence of a bouquet of flowers, the only subject in the painting to actually depart from the prevailing blue and white. In conclusion, the Symbolist work, in the figurative themes she addresses, directly engages us in a love story, the sentiment of which passes directly from the eyes to the heart of the viewer himself. Finally, we have arrived, caught up in the impetus of love, and thus without even being passionately aware of it, at the moment of contemporaneity, in which, once again, blue is associated with the intimacy of two lovers, who are holding each other in a galactic embrace, ready to take shape among the stars of the universe. I am talking about the subject depicted in the painting by Artmajeur artist Costantino Di Renzo, which, titled Infinity - Paolo and Francesca, also speaks to us about how Dante's Divine Comedy has often been the subject of art historical investigation. For those who do not know, the story of Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Rimini is dedicated to a good part of Canto V of the Inferno, in which the two young lovers, guilty of being brothers-in-law, were condemned to the punishments destined for the lustful. Behold, same theme was tackled by such masters as Amos Cassioli, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Gaetano Previati, but also by non-Italian painters such as Ary Scheffer, Gustave Doré and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Are you ready for the yellow?
KELAPA DELIGHT (2023)Painting by Aurélie Quentin
SUNFLOWER YELLOW (2023)Painting by Nataliia Sydorova
Masterpieces in Yellow
I could talk about Van Gogh's Sunflowers (1888-1889), Klimt's Kiss (1907-8), Van Gogh's The Yellow House (1888), and Vasily Kandinsky's Impression III (concert) (1911), but the desire to amaze you with a description of Antoine Vollon's Mound of Butter (1875-1885) and Frederic Remington's Cold Morning on the Range (1904) devours me!!! That's right, staying on the subject of hunger, hunger for art in this case, there is nothing better than the unremarkable butter-based still life by French realist Antoine Vollon, who is extremely well known for this very genre of paintings, through which, during his era, he attained a veritable celebrity status. The yellow in question is arranged, as anticipated, on the surface of a soft mound of butter, presumably the result of that typical fresh plant carotene, which in the master's time used to eat the never-satiated cows. The final product was purchased directly from the farmer, who, after milking, collected the cream to be processed, as well as the lumps that were manipulated, in order to remove moisture. For the storage of butter, however, the painting speaks for itself, showing how it was generally kept in a muslin cloth, inside cool place. In this context, the food was taken with the cortello and then spread, for example, on a piece of bread, just as the streaks, which are juxtaposed with the presence of a wooden spatula, aimed at shaping the surface of the foodstuff in use, make us understand. Here we now come to Frederic Remington's Cold Morning on the Range (1904), a painting that depicts a cowboy ready to tame a wild stallion, while, in the background, there are other men on horseback, intent on tending to the livestock under the eyes of the mountains, which appear in the distance. This entire scene is dominated by the imposition of the color yellow, whose presence is evident in the arid nature of the terrain, probably located at Goodnight-Loving Trail, or the famous route used in large-scale transfers of Texas Longhorn cattle in the late 1860s. Precisely by showing such a place, the artist wanted to allude, through the prevailing shades of yellow, to themes realtive to self-sufficiency as well as man's dominance over nature. Once again, we have come to the contemporary, on this occasion relying on the talent of Artmajeur artist Stefano Galli, who, in Crying of a Waiter in a Corner of a Hotel Garden, leads us to an outdoor home environment rich in hues that reach from yellow to orange. In fact, the entire painted habitation features the aforementioned nuances, just as happened similarly, 116 years earlier, in the neighborhood in which Van Gogh's aforementioned Yellow House comes to life. Excluding, however, from describing the latter masterpiece, which is definitely linked to the biography of the master in question, we can trace a parallel narrative, in that, Stefano's work also speaks of his own life, in particular, of a sympathetic event that pleasantly marked it. The painter, as a good Italian, is sure to possess the yardstick to decree the goodness of all the world's cuisine, so much so that, once he arrived in Romania, he despised the dishes in a restaurant. The local waiter, as the painting fantastically shows us, should have taken Galli's criticism seriously, and thus with healthy drama, bursting into tears, as it is only in the Bel Paese that the highest authority on food resides...I would like to clarify how this last piece, written with the utmost respect for those in favor of or those opposed to Italy's supremacy in culinary matters, leads us to the end of the story regarding red, yellow and blue.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
