Symbolism Of Blue In Impressionist Paintings

 

Symbolism of blue in Pre-Renaissance

As you may already know that every color has its own symbolism which can be depicted in art and our regular life. It has also been observed that most of the paintings contain primarily 3 colors one of which is the blue that fills in sky and water elements in a painting. But for generations, artists have been giving the blue color to various other objects in Impressionist paintings. Sometimes the blue contains the entirety of the painting no matter how big the Canvas is.

There has been a shift from the general meaning of blue and it’s symbolism in today’s date. What began with the paintings of Virgin Mary has become melancholy paintings of artistic scenery or regular day to day objects. So in earlier days, the portraits of Madonna that were painted in blue, the color symbolizes royalty and wealth. That is largely because the color was quite expensive and it was acquired from lapis lazuli which was a rare stone from the Middle East. The importance of this stone lies in the fact that it was difficult to acquire and it took a long time to make the paste out of it. 

Symbolism of blue in modern age

In time when the impressionist movement began, the price of lapis lazuli became comparatively low. This is why it was not that difficult for the average French artist to use the blue color in covering a huge section in the Canvas. Even upcoming artists who work hustling to make a living were able to paint one of the most popular Impressionist paintings with the entire medium in blue. Here the symbolism was mainly serenity, pristineness and sometimes it also collaborated with grey shades to symbolize melancholy. 

 So whenever an artist has incorporated the water or sky in an impressionist oil paintings for sale, it necessarily does not mean wealth or melancholy. The painting could have entirely different meanings.