PINK - A Colourful History

Pink has always been a spectacular contradiction. It’s simultaneously fresh-faced and sophisticated, alien (a 17th-century Chinese word for pink meant “foreign color”) and internal, and at home in both high and low culture. In Japan, it serves as wistful symbol of the slain samurai; in Korea, it’s interpreted as a sign of trustworthiness.

In the West, pink has shifted from one extreme to the next over the last three centuries. Eighteenth-century fashion helped to popularize the shade, which was a favorite of the pastel-loving European bourgeoisie. Pink received a fuchsia facelift during the 1960s Pop Art movement and a neon-soaked ’90s revival, before settling down as the pale, “post-gender” center of every millennial moodboard. From Renaissance portraits to rose gold iPhones, here’s a brief history of pink in art—and beyond.

Pink rarely appears in nature, which may explain why the color only entered the English language as a noun at the end of the 17th century. But in other languages, the shade remains difficult to pin down. Pink’s cultural significance can also vary widely between countries. In contemporary Japanese culture, pink is perceived as a masculine and mournful color that represents 'young warriors who fall in battle while in the full bloom of life.' In Germany, pink is “rosa”—a hue that’s 'bright, soft, peaceful, sweet, and harmless.'

The diversity of pink hues is the result of adding or subtracting yellow and blue tones from a wide spectrum of colors.

Keep reading: www.artsy.net...

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