Color Symbolism
ACO 3.0
Evaluate how elements and principles of design are integrated in various media to communicate to a specific audience.
Color has always been recognized for its symbolic power and an appreciation of this reaches back to ancient times. However, the understanding and interpretation of color symbolism has changed over time and varies from culture to country.
PAUL GAUGUIN (1848-1903)
'Vision After The Sermon', 1888 (oil on canvas)
Red through its association with fire and blood is used to represent danger, anger and violence. For the same reason it is also associated with affairs of the heart: love and passion.
In Paul Gauguin's 'Vision after the Sermon', Jacob wrestles with the angel in a blood red field of spiritual battle, an apt metaphor for his internal struggle against the will of God.
MARK ROTHKO (1903-1970)
'Orange and Yellow', 1956 (oil on canvas)
Orange symbolizes creativity, change, energy and endurance. It is the color that represents Autumn. As a secondary color it combines elements of the colors used to mix it: the creative passion of red with the energy and joy of yellow.
Mark Rothko, the American abstract expressionist artist, encouraged viewers to stand close to his large paintings so that they became spiritually immersed in the experience of color. 'Orange and Yellow' is the door to an inferno of color with a radiant energy that invites the spectator to open their emotions to "a spiritual kinship with primitive and archaic art".
ASSIGNMENT - 50pts
The paintings above use red and orange, but what about other colors? Your assignment is to search online and find examples of paintings that symbolically use the colors listed below.
Brown
Yellow
Blue
Purple
Black
Use Google Slides to create a slide show with your paintings. Next to each image write the color, what that color symbolizes in the painting, and the name of the painting and artist. Also include a link to where you found the information about the color in the artwork.
Not sure what to search on Google, or what your slides should look like? Look below for help.
Try using a search term similar to what you see here. Look for links like the one that says 10 artists and their blue periods.
Once you find the painting you want to use, do a search for the color and what it symbolizes. Use some of the information you find in your explanation.
Here is an example of what your slides should look like.
Don't forget to include a link to the web page where it explains how the artist used that color to symbolize something. HINT: This is usually a mood or feeling they're trying to convey.