Colour is often thought of as being a universal language but it's important to realise that the symbolic meaning of colour varies from culture to culture. An important and memorable example of this is the colour associated with death - black in the west and white in the east. Plus the Inuit people have seventeen different words for white!
Colour in frequency rank in terms of names in different languages
- black and white - all languages
- red
- yellow or green
- (the other one) yellow or green
- blue
- grey, orange, pink and purple
What I found interesting as I progressed through the various sources was to see a colour described in one way in one book and then to have that ascribed meaning in another.
Madonna del parto 1467Piero della Francesca
206cm x 203cm
Fresco detachd from Santa Maria di Momentana
Museo della Madonna del Parto in Monterchi, Via Reglia, 1 Monterchi (AR)
The colour blue: For example, so far as I am aware, most pictures of the Virgin Mary have her clothed in a blue robe - but this is not universal. This is partly because in the Renaissance, the colour blue was highly prized as lapis lazuli was rare, difficult to work with and expensive - and it was the main constituent of a rich blue colour. It was therefore reserved and used only for those people who were the most important. Notions of nobility (blue blood) and divinity might have arisen from this association. On the one hand it's interesting to think that the meaning of a colour might have arisen from the way in which it was made. At the same time, it's also interesting to note just how many other religions across the world have adopted blue as having religious meaning.
I'm using the example of the Piero della Francesca's Madonna del Parto because I went to see it a few years ago. Monterchi in Tuscany is surrounded by towns with yet more Piero della Francesca frescos in churches - although fortunately most of those are still on the walls.
| COLOUR | SYMBOLIC MEANING / COLOUR ASSOCIATION | ORIGIN/CULTURE/ EXAMPLES |
| White | elemental - ice | |
| emotional - cold, without emotion | ||
| gender - none specific | ||
| symbolic (positive) - good, purity (Judaism), innocence (bridal and baptisimal gowns), happiness | western traditions | |
| symbolic (negative) - death and mourning | China, Japan, some African nations | |
| seasonal - cold, snow, winter | ||
| used in a painting - provides highlights | ||
| Red | elemental - fire, heat, blood | ancient |
| emotional - passion, excitement, speed, anger, | ||
| gender - masculine, virility, powerful | "red-blooded" | |
| symbolic (positive) - auspicious(1) Chinese bridal colour | (1) China | |
| symbolic (negative) - war, the devil, debt, communism, prostitution, | soldiers /devil often dressd in red; Soviet/Chinese flags; red light districts | |
| seasonal - Christmas; Passion ceremony re death of Jesus | western tradition | |
| used in a painting - always attracts the eye; a small amount can go a long way | ||
| Blue | elemental - water, sky, air, distance, | |
| emotional - calm, harmony, tranquil, serene AND depression, sadness, despondency, despair | 'blues' music | |
| gender - masculine (but appeals to both genders) | ||
| symbolic (positive) - nobility, truth, divinity, spirituality, (many cultures) immortality (China), holiness (Judaism) Krishna and other gods (Hinduism) | ||
| symbolic (negative) - obscenity | western cultures | |
| seasonal - summer | ||
| clothing - authority (dark blue) | ||
| used in a painting -calms and cools Virgin Mary and other very important figures in renaissance paintings; | reserved use of ultramarine (lapis lazuli) | |
| Green | elemental - earth | |
| emotional - harmony, calm, stable AND envy, jealousy, AND immature, gullible, | "green room" in a theatre "green with envy" 'green wood' | |
| gender - non-specific, youth | ||
| symbolic (positive) - fresh, rebirth, renewal, fertility, eternal life, balance, baptism; Islam (respect/ veneration); conservation and the environment money | "Green Man" European traditions; Islam Green movement USA | |
| symbolic (negative) - illness; bad spirits; disgrace (China); corruption (North Africa) | bile | |
| seasonal - spring, leaves, grass | Trees/foliage | |
| used in a painting - | ||
| Yellow | elemental -gold (wealth) | |
| emotional - joy, happiness, optimism, hope; | ||
| gender - feminine; | ||
| symbolic (positive) - wisdom(1), intuition (2); intelligence | (1) Islam; (2) Jungian philosophy | |
| symbolic (negative) - poison and death(1) and mourning (2) hazards and hazard signs (3) deceit; cowardice (4), sickness (5) | (1) Middle Ages; (2) Egypt; (3) black on yellow has the highest level of recognition ie safest (4) 'yellow streak' (5) jaundice | |
| seasonal - summer, sunlight, autumn | ||
| clothing - Taoist robes | ||
| used in a painting - a colour of duality and ambiguity (good versus evil) | ||
| Orange | elemental - | |
| emotional - warmth, bright, cheerful, | ||
| gender - non-specific | ||
| symbolic (positive) - fruitfulness | ||
| symbolic (negative) - brashness, danger | highlights dangerous areas | |
| seasonal - Autumn | ||
| clothing - Budhist monks' robes | ||
| used in a painting - not often! | ||
| Purple | elemental - non-specific | |
| emotional - passion, rage, pomposity creativity, overwrought | ||
| gender - non-specific | ||
| symbolic (positive) - priests, royalty, nobility, bravery, | 'the royal purple' cloth originally died from a rare Mediterranean snail! | |
| symbolic (negative) - death and mourning, | Thailand | |
| seasonal - dusk | ||
| used in a painting - both a red and a blue; often used for atmospheric effects eg shadows. distant landscape, sunsets | ||
| Pink | elemental - non specific | |
| emotional - 'paler' version of red emotions good health, pretty, sweet, | in the pink | |
| gender - multiple interpretations feminine gay masculine (Japan - represents Samurai) | western cultures: became specific to women in the 20s; Gay - used for symbols by the Nazis in the 30s/40s | |
| symbolic - babyish left wing - but not extreme | 'not quite red' | |
| seasonal - non-specific | ||
| used in a painting - calms (if not lurid) | ||
| Brown | elemental - earth, wood | |
| emotional - melancholy, comfort, security | ||
| gender - masculine | ||
| symbolic (positive) - organic, natural, wholesome, | ||
| symbolic (negative) - gloom | ||
| seasonal - Autumn, Thanksgiving | ||
| used in a painting - | ||
| Gray | elemental - non-specific (dust?), the moon | |
| emotional - boring, dull, pessimisim balance, equivocation | men in grey suits shades of grey | |
| gender - non-specific; old age | ||
| symbolic - neither positive nor negative = confusion no colour; urban | the 'colour' of Lent (ie no colour) | |
| seasonal - winter | grey days | |
| used in a painting - coloured greys are used as neutral to allow other colours to shine | ||
| Black | elemental - underworld / absence of light | |
| emotional - anger, sadness, unhappiness, remorse, depression, rebellion, silence, anonymity | ||
| gender - none specific (androgenous?) | ||
| symbolic (positive) - life, growth, well-being, rebirth | Egypt (colour of the Nile alluvial soil) | |
| symbolic (negative) - death and mourning (1), evil, purge, doom and foreboding, bad luck, anarchism (2) | (1)western tradition (2) blackshirts | |
| seasonal - night | ||
| clothing - clergy, mourning, black cowboy hat = evil, AND formal, elegant, sophisticated | western cultures | |
| used in a painting - provides contrast |
How about you? Do you think about the symbolism and meaning of the colours you use when painting?
Books:
- by Betty Edwards
- Color in Contemporary Painting: Integrating Practice and Theory by Charles Le Clair
Websites:
- Wikipedia - Color symbolism and psychology
- Webexhibits - Pigments throught the ages focuses on the pigment associations
- Princeton Online - Symbolic Color - using color for meaning a great resource, lots of links to other sites
- Sensational Colour
Amused me that you put Communism in amongst the negative connotations of red. Some of your readers might think that the political connotations of red mean it should go in the positive section!
ReplyDeleteI think that's a hangover from before I decided I was going to downplay the political side of things.
ReplyDeleteMind you I'm under the impression that quite a few of the old communist states have gone over to good old fashioned capitalism. Isn't that where all the money's coming from to buy art - from the Russian billionaires?
Hi Katherine, the colour red has in some cultures a significant meaning - in India f.e. the bride always wears red - it is a sign of luck I was told by a befriended Indian couple. Until today the colour red is significant in the Vatikan being the colour of the cardinals. Partially in Islamic cultures red is used for the bride as well - at least in southeast Asia.
ReplyDeleteIn western meaning I think red has been often used as a menace and metaphor for the evil. Not so very much today with the meaning of love - red roses are the synonym.
Not to forget the psycholocial effect of red - meaning aggression etc. It is interesting to realize that often people who drive a red car are thought to be reckless drivers (which is nonsense of course) but exceptions confirm the rule.
Btw - I personally used red always as a fire element, lava, in this silk carving about Hawaiian symbols, called "Pele":
http://tinyurl.com/6abnpv
Red is for me the strongest colour with the most intense meaning that exists.
Greetings, Petra
Something bothers me about colours having positive and negative meanings because it is a symbolic language that human beings pass on rather than a proven emotion response. Rather like saying the letter L is boring compared to an M. I love the colour brown - to me it's chocolate, earth, lemurs, burmese cats, bark, chestnuts, warmth, leather, chic, brown skin etc., etc. I cannot see it as a negative masculine thing! Purple too seems to be interpreted in an alien way to me. I'm not saying it's wrong but it's like religion, how can that be learned? If I don't find brown gloomy or blue depressing (is looking at clear blue skies depressing?), how can that be true for me and should I therefore accept it? Red seems to be the only colour that all humans react strongly to and I would guess that is an instinctive response to the colour of blood the sight of which is obviously the result of harm, stress, excitement or arousal to the body (not a learned response). Perhaps when the experts talk of symbolic colour they mean it as a loose interpretation, but it does seem to be taken 'as Bible'.
ReplyDeleteHello Katherine
ReplyDeleteThis is a fascinating post. You might be interested in a quote I added to my own blog called the Language of Colour from a novel called 'Carnevale' by M R Lovric. Bear in mind that it is supposed to be written by a (female) Renaissance artist ...
http://hopeeternal.wordpress.com/2007/11/16/the-language-of-colour-from-carnevale-m-r-lovric/
hopeeternal
Thanks for the really interesting comments - they provide much food for thought.
ReplyDeleteI believe the idea of multiple words for "white" in Inuit is but another branch of the so called "Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax", a linguistic anthropology's contribution to the stock of modern urban legends (begun in 1911, originally for "snow", rather than "white"). Various versions of this story are easily found by google.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, there seems to be some positive evidence that our native languages influence our perception of colour through the right eye (i.e. controlled by the left brain), but not if one uses only one's left eye. I oversimplify, but there is a detectable difference. Here is the abstract of this paper (may be this can be of use for artists in their squinting techniques?).