Red insights

July 2, 2014

Laura Du Toit

” A common theme throughout my work is my interest in shapes, textures and colours found in nature. I find inspiration in volcanoes, fossils and geological formations, to name a few. Using materials like Kalahari sand, oxides, slip and multiple stoneware firings enable me to capture the weathered surfaces and patterns of the earth ” – Laura Du Toit, Cape Town, ZA

Slab built jar – Eddie Curtis

Eddie Curtis used contrasting copper effects for the black rim and red reduction glaze over his textured jar

Mark Uzan ovoid red and black vessel

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Beginnings of vermilion red

The first use of the red vermilion pigment, made with ground cinnabar, was documented around 7000–8000 BC and it was found in a Turkish neolithic village which is currently called Catalhoyuk. In Spain cinnabar was mined in the beginning of about 5300 BC, while in China the first documented use of Cinnabar as a pigment was by the Yangshao culture (5000–4000 BC)
Vermilion red was esteemed by the Chinese to symbolize good fortune and joy. They used it to paint their temples, the carriages of the Emperor, and favored it as a printing paste for personal name chops. It was also used for unique red calligraphic ink reserved for Emperors. Chinese Taoists associated vermilion with eternity as it was accociated with the colour of life. Hence it was widely used to paint ceramics, to cover the walls and floors of rooms, and for ritual ceremonies.
Vermilion was also used by the peoples of Central and South America, to paint ceramics, figurines, murals, and for the decoration of burials abd tombs.. It was used in the Chavin Civilization (400 BC – 200 AD), and in the Maya, Sican, Moche, and Inca Empire. The major source was the Huancavelica mine in the Andes mountains in central Peru.
In India vermilion or sindoor as it is called is the symbol of fertility, and it is applied on the forehead as a dot known as a bindu or on the hair parting of the woman signifying that she is married. A key ritual in the tradirional Indian marriages is application of vermilion by the groom on his bride, signifying their marital bond, which she applies everyday for the rest of life till her husband’s death.
Vermilion was the primary red pigment used by European painters from the Renaissance until the 20th century. However, because of its cost and toxicity, it was almost entirely replaced by a new synthetic pigment, cadmium red, in the 20th century.

Curiously, Brett Gorvy, co-head of contemporary art at Christie’s International, said red was the most lucrative colour in art works, followed by white, blue, yellow, green and black, in that order. Cheyenne Westphal, chairman of Contemporary Art Europe at Sotheby’s, also claimed that “With art it’s always very difficult to quantify, but you can see it has an overall effect. So if the colour red is in a work or art it tends to get more expensive than others.” This has also been fueled by the input of the Chinese market but all power to the majestic red.

Christ en Croix ceramic lamp, 1950

( Orange Ceramiques )

Amazon – Patinated and cold painted bronze figure by Erte

Poppy Jasper natural stone

Porcelain figurine lizard-from Anya and Slava

Jemez Peublo vessel – Marcella Yepa

Noguchi’s Red Cube sculpture on Broadway in lower Manhattan.

Pushkar Fair wall art, Rajasthan

Rocaille de l Océan — twinn handled amphora

Sarah Chenoweth Davis – Mini Lidded Jar

Bacterial Infection vessel by Sasha Bakaric

Chapel Hill-NC

Small jug with sleeping women decoration by Louise Gardelle

L’opera Restaurant entrance, Paris

Tea Bowl With Stand- China Ming Dynasty

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Love Between Woman and Horse – Sandy Wolk

Vertical Face by Rick Kirby v2

( Tanyaluk Photography on Flickr )

Victor Reyes Casa Grande

pueblodirect.com

Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals- Chinese Zodiac Heads at Somerset House in London.

Photograph: Andrew Winning/Reuters.

yunomi – Clary Illian from Shambhala Pottery

Les Eyziers-de-Tayac-Sirueil, France

Musée des Arts Forains de Paris ( Museum of Fairground Arts in Paris )

Heart Umbrella by Art Lebedev Studio

Amphora art nouveau mushroom pitcher

Venice carnival costume, Italy

Marianne de Trey Agateware vase

Natalya Sots vase of poppy flowers

Dick Jemison’s collection of Abelam Yam Masks – used in the ritual yam harvest ceremonies and festivals in Papua New Guinea, important to their spiritual life.