Colorful Stories of Art
Many artists are famous for their particular use of color.
While some artists mix interesting and
unique colors, other artists use primary colors to
express strong emotions.
As we walk through our
newest exhibition, Colorful Stories of Art, we will
explore the use of the three primary colors―yellow,
blue, and red―and find out how they were a source of
inspiration.
Open your eyes, listen to the stories, and
try to feel the emotions that the colors show.
Vincent van Gogh
The first artist is Vincent van Gogh.
According to research,
the French city of Arles, where van Gogh spent his later years, had
exceptionally bright and intense sunlight.
Van Gogh expressed the
sunlight, energy, and the joy of life he felt there through bright yellow
colors.
During his short life of 37 years, he created more than 900
paintings, around 300 of which feature mostly yellow.
The series of
paintings called Sunflowers includes some of his most recognizable
works.
Some have said that his preference for yellow in his artwork
was due to a medical condition that forced him to see mainly yellow.
While this may be true, we can also see his use of blue, orange, and
other colors, and these combinations of colors serve to emphasize his
joy being conveyed.
Edward Hopper
Van Gogh used yellow to express joy, but Edward Hopper’s
use of yellow expresses loneliness.
Hopper lived in New York City
for nearly six decades, and he created paintings depicting urban
scenes that showed how even familiar surroundings could cause the
viewer to feel a sense of loneliness.
Hopper’s Nighthawks is a good
example of this.
There are four people in the same diner, but they’re
clearly not together.
The bright yellow walls create a dramatic
contrast to the darkness outside, emphasizing how people can be in
the same space and feel apart.
In Hopper’s Automat, the feeling of
loneliness is even more direct.
The yellow lights lead the viewer’s eye
to the yellow hat of the woman, and the cool shades of the other colors
contrast with the warm yellow, emphasizing that she’s on her own.
Kim Whanki & Henri Matisse
The color blue can produce a calming effect.
Even during his days in Paris and New York, Kim
Whanki never forgot his Korean identity.
The blue sky
and blue seas reminded him of Sinan, his home in
Korea, which inspired him to create paintings filled
with various shades of blue.
His use of blue was an
expression of how much he missed the place he grew up in.
In Tranquility 5-IV-73 #310, the waves of deep blue and
light blue dots bring up images of the sea or the sky.
Kim Whanki said that he painted each dot as he
thought of friends and loved ones from home.
On the other hand, Henri Matisse’s blue speaks
of freedom.
Polynesia, the Sky and Polynesia, the Sea
are two Matisse works that have an interesting
similarity.
In his later years, Matisse had cancer
surgery, which left him unable to stand and paint in
front of an easel.
Instead of painting, he created
artwork by gluing paper cut-outs and then painting
details.
Although his physical difficulties prevented
him from doing many things, he still remembered the
freedom he experienced while swimming in the
Tahitian sea, looking through the salt water down to the
sea floor and up towards the sky.
R.C. Gorman & Claude Monet
Our last color is red, which is often associated with
life and energy.
R.C. Gorman, known as the Picasso of
Native American art, may have felt the same way when he
created Navajo Velvet.
The painting depicts a woman sitting
on the ground, deep in thought.
Her figure in a red dress
resembles a huge mountain against the background of the
deep, starry blue night, suggesting the relationship between
her and nature.
Sometimes red is used to express the beauty
of nature.
Claude Monet’s Autumn Effect at Argenteuil shows how the
artist celebrated beautiful autumn moments.
The bright reds in the
painting symbolize the amazing and transformative power of nature.
The painting captures the dramatic moment when the forest turns
bright red and is reflected on the surface of the river.
Color is powerful because it stimulates such an
emotional response in us.
Artists use the same color to
express various feelings, so the way we interpret the
artwork can be various too.
Open your eyes and let the
emotions of the artwork come to you.
You may love it or
you may hate it, but art will always take you to a place
beyond everyday life.