RSSThe Color Red
02 Dec 2006 2 Comments
December is here. St.Louis, Chicago, and Milwaukee already have snow on the ground. Danny DeVito’s movie, Deck The Halls has opened and I’m sure many of you will soon be installing your own Christmas lights on your homes.
Yes, Santa Claus is on the way. Let’s have a look at him. He’s got his girth, his white beard, and of course his trademark red suit.
The color red is our topic for this column. We’ve been seeing it for years and it is so common that sometimes you don’t even think about. But it’s there, and much of time we take it for granted.
Take this magazine cover. This issue of Vogue was published in August, 1956. The photograph was shot by Norman Parkinson more than 50 years ago. He called it Red Rose, and today you can still buy it. Now I’d call that an impact.
Or red might be just a small fraction of the picture or painting but your eyes still are attracted to it. In the (above) painting by Liu Chang Wen called Wild Mountain notice the girl’s bedding that she carries. Jin Yu painted Future Hopes (below) with the red lanterns are the most noticeable feature.
About lanterns – In fact, a famous film was entitled Raise The Red Lantern. Directed by Zhang Yimou, and starring Gong Li, it is the story of a wealthy land owner who had four wives. The particular wife who would be visited by the master on a specific night, would have her red lantern lit. Of course, jealousy soon took over the lives of each of the women.
Getting back to flowers, how about this painting by Salvador Dali. He called it The Rose, and he painted it in 1958. How does it compare to the real article?
Red seems to permeate everything – in the food groups we have strawberries, tomatoes, apples, jalapeno peppers, and red meats.
The color red governs our movements. We have stop signs, and we have red lights.
And we ride in red vehicles.
We wear red, as the main color, or as an accessory, or as the only color.
Check out the iconic Marilyn Monroe in a red sweater,the red beret clad Busty Dusty,a red evening gown design, and Britney Spears in red. In China, a bride may dress in red as it is the color of good luck, or women will wear it to attract men. Check out these paintings by Wang Yi Hua (1,2,3 below), Liu Yuan Shou (4), and Wang Yi Dong (5&6).
Sometimes red is the color of choice of light-hearted artists like Keith Haring and Robert Indiana….
or modern artists like Piet Mondrian, Claire O’Hea, Keith Siddle, and Man Ray…(from the top down in the column below)
or the European masters like Matisse, Munch, Modigliani, and Monet (clockwise from top left).
Red is used to promote tourism as in Hong Kong by Tony Soulie, or we treasure the beautiful fish called koi, a creation in nature. We admire the sunsets, like the image by Frank Crezus.
Our movies are filled with “Red” or a color in the family in the titles. Just to jog your memory – check these out. I’ll bet you’ve seen at least one of these: The Hunt for Red October, Red Dawn, Blood Work, and The Crimson Tide.
Many of our flags, contain the color red -
We cheer for our teams – collegiate or professional -
We roll out the red carpet, we see red when we are angry, when we blush – our faces get red, when our companies lose money we consider them to be in the red. What kind of wine do you like – how about a red?
We picturize our hearts in red. And when we bleed, even if we are considered to be true-blue as a friend, or a blue-blood as in royalty, or a gold-digger, or green with envy – we still bleed in red.
Without red in our lives we wouldn’t really be alive, would we? Merry Christmas everyone!
Dec 26, 2007 @ 19:29:37
Greatest summary talking about The Color Red. I enjoy this view!
Dec 27, 2007 @ 05:53:04
Thanks for the comments. This specific article is a year old. I wonder how you happened up on it at this time?
JMM