Collection: RELISHING RED

RED is the boldest color in the spectrum and has captured the imagination of artists for centuries. Red can also signal danger, assertion, strength, romance, excitement, vitality, joy, sexuality, power and impulsiveness, all of which have been the subjects of artistic vision and the colorful common denominator for quite a number of famous artworks. Matisse’s “The Red Studio “and “Dance,” which depicts nude red musicians, Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Red Hill and Bones,” and Mark Rothko’s “No.301” (where the entire canvas is filled with various shades of red) are classic examples of historic works that utilized the energy and universal language of crimson. A red tide of works celebrating this passionate color continued with classic artists such as Auguste Renoir’s “Claude Renoir in Clown Costume,” John Singer Sargent’s “Dr. Pozzi at Home” and Claude Monet’s reddish portrait of his first wife. Warhol was fascinated with the use of red when he created “Red Lenin” and “Red Hammer & Sickle,” as well as his large dollar bill signs with red backgrounds, which have a market price today of $9 million dollars. They used to say, “better dead than red” (a 1950s rallying call by Senator Joseph McCarthy, a central figure of the Red Scare) but it’s likely that Lucille Ball, Red Grooms, Red Skelton or the Red Baron would disagree!

Contemporary artists who became famous also experimented with a burgundy mix of red early in their careers. Rauschenberg infamously painted an all-red painting in 1954, followed by red works produced by Donald Judd, Louise Bourgeois, Anish Kapoor, Donald Sultan, Keith Haring, Robert Indiana (LOVE sculpture), Sam Francis’ painterly grids and David Hockney’s memorable landscapes in shades of crimson.

Painters are not the only ones who found the word and color red as inspirational, musicians have used it in titles for hit songs. You can start humming a familiar tune when you come across catchy songs such as “When the Red Red Robin comes Bob Bob Bobbin’ Along,” “Red Camaro” (Keith Urban), “Little Red Corvette” (Prince), “The Lady in Red” (Chris De Burgh), “99 Red Balloons” (Nena), “Red Red Wine” (UB40) and the iconic number by The Drifters, “You’re more than a number in my little Red Book!”