Let’s talk about it #1: Harmony in Red

Red.  Somebody more knowledgeable than me about psychology could write their own blog post about the emotive powers of the colour.  In Liverpool in recent days, with Justice For The 96 finally becoming a reality, the colour has been rightly prominent in the city’s consciousness , and yet last week wearing red had quite a different meaning to the half of town whose team play in blue.  Without wanting to be at all crass, this has combined in my mind with my previous post to  lead me to this:

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Going all fan-girl, 2013

What to say about Harmony in Red?  Disclosure: I can’t talk about this painting in a disinterested way, it’s quite possibly my favourite ever piece of art.   I love its brush strokes, the boldness of its colour (originally blue by the way, which you can spot up close.  Glad he changed his mind).  I find that when looking at it, the curves of the lines lead me to every part of it, and I like them all equally.  I like how the painting has no sense of depth or perspective so you don’t have the sense of looking at objects, but rather at a complete composition with everything being equally valued.

I already have the sense that I am going to be using Messy Lines to make a few points over and over again, because they are things which I truly believe are important when looking at art.  One of those points is to really look at it before making up your mind.  If you don’t like or get it after that, then fine.  But art is not like TV, you can’t always expect to be entertained by just being a passive observer.  So if you can’t understand where I’m coming from with this adulation, of course that’s a valid opinion.  And I grant that St Petersburg is a long way to go to see it in the flesh, so maybe I’m shouting into the wind.  But I hope that even from a photo, you can appreciate at least some of the beauty in this that I do.

Opinions are welcomed!

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