Is blue your favorite color? Even if it is not the case, look at a trio of famous blues from 20th century art history. Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Yves Klein – these are the masters of capturing their visions in this incredible shade.
Henri Matisse, Blue Nude II, 1952, The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA.
The technique of cutting out paper, painting it and arranging it was used by Matisse after he had surgery and could no longer create art using regular tools.
Henri Matisse, Standing Blue Nude, 1952, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA.
The cut-outs – in particular the Blue Nudes – are remarkable because they resemble Matisse’s earlier sculptural work.
Henri Matisse, La Serpentine, 1909, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA.
Much of Matisse’s work is in private collections, and for the first time between 2014-2015, the cut-outs were reunited for an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
2. Picasso’s Blue Period
Between 1901 and 1904 Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) made art that meditates on color. This was a move away from his early work, which is more realistic in style.
Pablo Picasso, Femme aux Bras Croisés (Woman with Folded Arms), 1901-1902, private collection. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
As time went on, Picasso painted with progressively cooler shades. Hence his iconic blue period.
Pablo Picasso, The Old Guitarist, 1903-1904, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Art from the blue period is sombre in color and content, often featuring lonely, isolated, and sad figures. Some people contend this mournful outlook was a result of a close friend’s suicide.
Pablo Picasso, La Vie, 1903, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, USA.
IKB was made in collaboration with Edouard Adam, who was a Parisian art paint supplier and whose shop is still in business on the Boulevard Edgar-Quinet, Montparnasse!
Yves Klein, Large Blue Anthropometry (ANT 105) 1960, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA.
With the creation of IKB, Klein began a period of his career known as, you guessed it, the blue period, during which he made over 200 monochrome paintings and sculptures.
Yves Klein was an important figure in European post-war art, important to the development of performance and minimal art.
A Final Thought
The artists in this trio are linked in a number of ways: they are seminal artists; they are white; they are European; they are men. Additionally, the trio possesses the power to provoke debates about the objectification and dehumanization of women in art.
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Isla graduated with a first class BA in Classics from the University of Cambridge in 2018. After university she spent a year in Japan, where she interned as a curatorial assistant at the Fukuoka Asian Arts Museum. Recently, Isla completed a History of Art MA with Distinction at Birkbeck College, University of London. She currently lives in London with her husband, siamese cats and baby.
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