关于色彩“蓝色”…｜There’s Something About the Color Blue…
" Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the deity to be a source of delight.”
"造物主永恒地将蓝色指定为愉悦之源"
- John Ruskin 约翰·拉斯金
IKB 191 (1962) by Yves Klein
《国际奇连蓝 191》（1962）作者：伊夫·克莱因
Serenity, sadness, loneliness. These are some of the feelings associated with the color blue. Humans see it in the sky and the depths of the sea, but beyond those, it was not common in nature. Throughout ancient history, researchers found that there were no traceable records of the word blue before the ancient Egyptians began using synthetic blue dyes. In fact, the color only became more commonplace within a few hundred years.
宁静，悲伤，孤独…这些是我们看到蓝色时产生出来的一些感觉。人类仰望天空能看见它，放眼海洋能看见它，但除此之外，蓝色在自然界却并不常见。纵观古代历史，研究人员发现在古埃及人开始使用合成蓝色染料之前，没有关于“蓝色”一词的可追溯记录。实际上这种颜色在近几百年内才变得更为普遍。
Conversation (1908- 1912) by Henri Matisse
《对话》（1908- 1912) 亨利·马蒂斯
The color blue brought upon a plethora of unique works with artists such as Henri Matisse, Yves Klein, and Pablo Picasso having a certain fascination for the color. Henri Matisse’s Blue Nudes series features an exploration of the female form through his revolutionary cut-out technique, using the color blue as signifiers of volume and distance. In contrast, his painting titled, Conversation (1908- 1912) uses blue, not as a decorative element to the wall or floor, but as an atmosphere. In fact, some art historians find that it is the portrayal of the complex relationship that Matisse and his wife had when he expressed his unbreakable greater love for art over her.
蓝色为亨利·马蒂斯（Henri Matisse），伊夫·克莱因（Yves Klein）和毕加索（Pablo Picasso）等艺术家带来了许多独特的作品，亨利·马蒂斯的“蓝色裸体”系列通过其革新性的剪裁技巧来探索女性的形态，蓝色被用来体现距离和体积。相比之下，他名为《对话》（1908-1912）的作品中，蓝色被用于一种氛围，而没有被作为墙壁或地板的装饰元素。一些艺术史学家发现，这是马蒂斯和妻子之间复杂关系的一种写照，表现了他对妻子强烈爱慕之情的一种艺术描绘。
Paintings from Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period (1901-1904)
巴勃罗·毕加索的蓝色时期作品（1901-1904）
In the past, the blue pigment was made through minerals such as lapis lazuli and azurite which were extremely rare and expensive. Egyptians later imported the minerals from Afghanistan and attempted to create blue paints but ultimately failed. Eventually, a more refined version known as ultramarine blue would be imported to the ports of Venice in the 14th century. During this time, artists would use blue as a way to draw attention to major religious figures such as the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ. Due to its cost and limited supply, they would only reserve the color for commissioned works by the most affluent of figures. Despite this, artists like Johannes Vermeer used the pigment profusely, with all or most of his paintings including it in some form.
在过去，蓝色颜料是通过矿物（例如青金石和石青石）而制成的，而这些矿物极为罕见且昂贵。后来埃及人从阿富汗进口矿物质，试图制造蓝色颜料，但以失败告终。最终，在14世纪一种被称为“群青”的蓝色颜料被引入威尼斯港口，将蓝色的定义更加确切。在此期间，艺术家们使用蓝色来吸引人们关注主要的宗教人物，例如圣母玛利亚或耶稣基督。但由于材料的昂贵和有限供应，他们仅将蓝色保留给画作中最有影响力的人物。尽管如此，像约翰内斯·弗米尔这样的艺术家还是大量使用了这种颜料，几乎所有他的作品里都有蓝色的元素。
Bacchus and Ariadne (1520- 1523) by Titian
《巴克科斯与阿里阿德涅》 (1520- 1523) 作者：提香
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer
《戴珍珠耳环的少女》 作者：约翰内斯·维米尔
Alternatives to ultramarine, Cobalt blue, and Prussian blue, would be introduced to Europe later in the 18th and 19th century. Cobalt blue was widely used by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, and J.M.W. Turner in the form of oil and water paints. Many impressionist artists such as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edouard Manet would favorably use it in their works. Its lighter intensity and semi-opaqueness made it an excellent material to use for skies and water. Turner’s Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus (1829) shows extensive use of the color in the sky and clouds with a blend of ultramarine along the horizon.
作为群青的替代品，钴蓝和普鲁士蓝于18和19世纪晚些时候引入欧洲。钴蓝被梵高和约瑟夫·玛罗德·威廉·特纳（J.M.W. Turner）等艺术家在油画和水彩画中广泛使用。许多印象派画家例如克劳德·莫奈（Claude Monet），皮埃尔·奥古斯特·雷诺阿（Pierre-Auguste Renoir）和爱德华·马奈（Edouard Manet）等都喜欢在作品中使用它。它轻盈的密度和清透的质感使它完美应用于描绘天空和水。特纳的作品《尤利西斯嘲弄波里菲莫斯》（1829）中将这种颜色广泛应用于天空，云彩，以及在地平线上混合了一些群青的色彩。
Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus (1829) by Joseph Mallord William Turner
《尤利西斯嘲弄波里菲莫斯》（1829）作者：约瑟夫·玛罗德·威廉·特纳
La Yole (The Skiff) (1875) by Pierre Auguste Renoir. Oil on canvas 71 cm x 92 cm.
《小船》（1875）作者：皮埃尔·奥古斯特·雷诺阿
Prussian blue marks an intriguing part of blue history with its influence spanning not only Europe but also Asia, especially Japan. The color in its purest form had a deep blue that could be mixed with other pigments and lasted longer over time. Its vibrant tone and depth were radically different from the vegetable dyes like indigo that the Japanese had been using. Despite Japan’s restricted borders, Prussian blue imports to Japan grew substantially calling upon a blue craze that influenced artists such as Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Eisen Kensai. Hokusai’s work would in turn be shown in Europe, influencing a generation of impressionist artists through Japnosime following the forced reopening of trade in Japan.
普鲁士蓝标志着蓝色在一段灰暗历史中有意思的部分，它的影响遍及欧洲和亚洲，尤其是日本。最纯净的蓝色是深蓝，它可以与其他的颜料混合，长时间地被保存下来。这种颜料鲜艳的色调和色彩深度与日本人使用的靛蓝等植物染料完全不同。尽管当时日本限制边境口岸，但普鲁士蓝这种颜料仍源源不断地被进口到日本，引发了一种“蓝色狂热”，这种狂热影响了葛饰北斋，安藤广重和溪斋英泉等艺术家。葛饰北斋的作品在欧洲展出，其代表的日本主义影响了一代印象派艺术家，也促使日本重新开放贸易。
Under the Wave off Kanagawa from the series 36 Views of Mount Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai
葛饰北斋系列的《富岳三十六景》中的神奈川冲浪里
Work by Katsushika Hokusai
葛饰北斋的作品
Work by Utagawa Hiroshige
安藤广重的作品
Work by Eisen Kesai
凯赛·艾森的作品
The darker side to Prussian blue is in its creation of prussic acid, more commonly known as Hydrogen cyanide, one of the deadliest poisons to date. The Nazis in World War II would develop a crystalized form of prussic acid known as Zyklon B that would be used to exterminate masses of the Jewish race in the pursuit of “ racial purity”. The aftermath of the gas leaves behind traces of blue stains on the wall which can be found in many gas chambers. Interestingly, the Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński who lived through this time period makes many references to the atrocities of war within his artworks. Many of his prominent works feature Prussian blue to manifest a cold aesthetic while also alluding to death. Some believe that his use of the color in such a way may have been intentional.
普鲁士蓝这种颜料的弊端在于其产生的氢氰酸（通常被称为氰化氢）是迄今为止最致命的有毒物质之一。第二次世界大战中，纳粹分子开发出一种名为Zyklon B的物质，这是氢氰酸的晶体形式，该物质被用于消灭犹太人，以追求“种族纯洁”。这种物质汽化之后会在墙上留下蓝色的痕迹，在许多毒气室都曾发现这类蓝色污渍。有趣的是，生活在这段时期的波兰艺术家Zdzisław Beksiński在他的作品中也曾多次提及战争的暴行。在许多杰出的作品中，他将普鲁士蓝作为特征，表现出一种阴郁的美学，暗含着死亡。这种色彩的运用被认为是他刻意而为之的。
For more on Zdzisław Beksiński’s art check out our related article.
点击此处查看艺术家贝克辛斯基的相关文章
YInMn Blue, a new form of advanced blue developed in the US
钇铟锰蓝, 美国新开发的一种新型蓝色颜料
In recent years, blue paints have become less toxic and affordable thanks to advancements made in chemical science. YInMn blue stands as the latest variant, while other variants of synthetic cobalt blue and Phtalo blue being widely used. Looking back at blue’s unexpected significance to art history and the development of chemistry, it is without a doubt worth obsessing over. We hope you had a good read and wish you all blue skies for the Chinese New Year.
近年来，由于化工科学的进步，蓝色颜料的毒性降低了，价格也越来越便宜。钇铟锰蓝（YInMn Blue）代表着蓝色最新的变体，而合成钴蓝和酞菁蓝的其他变体则被广泛使用。回首蓝色对艺术史和化学发展的意义，是出乎预料的，毫无疑问也是值得痴迷的。希望您到此阅读愉快，并祝大家春节快乐，抬头看见一片蓝天。
“ Blue has no dimensions, it is beyond dimensions, whereas the other colors are not...All colors arouse specific associative ideas, psychologically material or tangible, while blue suggests at most the sea and sky, and they, after all, are in actual, visible nature what is most abstract.”
蓝色没有维度，它是超越维度的。而其他颜色并不是所有的颜色都能引起特定的联想，而蓝色最多只能代表海洋和天空，可它们毕竟是实际的、可见的，和最抽象的。
- Yves Klein 伊夫·克莱因
Translation 翻译 Rona Xia
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