Claire's Art Blog: The Color Green

My favorite color is actually blue, but since we already spent a class learning about the color blue I decided to investigate another color I love, which is the color green. The English word for green comes from the Middle English and Anglo-Saxon word grene, which derived from the Germanic root word that mean “grass” and “grow.” When I think of the color green, I usually think of science and nature, but it also has an important place in the history of art.

There are Neolithic cave paintings and ceramics from Mesopotamia that contain the color green, but the ancient culture that loved the color green the most were the Egyptians. Egyptian artist made the color by grinding up malachite or they would mix yellow ochre and blue azurite. Green was the color that represented rebirth, regeneration, and good health for the ancient Egyptians. People would wear green paint around their eyes to protects them from evil. The color green was a very positive symbol for Egyptians and a lot of green paint and malachite have been found in Egyptian tombs. Their God, Osiris, who represents the underworld, rebirth, and regeneration would always be painted using the color green.

During the Renaissance, the colors you wore depicted your social rank. Green was worn by bankers and merchants, so the color often represented status and wealth. The Mona Lisa wears green in her painting. During this period, there wasn’t an easy way to create the color green, usually the green just looked like brown and the paint would fade away quickly. They finally got their hands on malachite, which created a very luscious and vibrant shade.

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, synthetic dyes were becoming more popular and artist would able to get their hands on vivacious hues. In this time period, the color green had started to represent the romantic period. The German poet, Goethe, said that green was the most restful color. Many landscape paintings that were made during this time celebrated the color.

Now, the color green has started to represent social movements, like encouraging to make society more environmentally stable. It also represents youth, life, and calmness.