Colour cannot stand alone; it cannot dispense with boundaries of some
kind. [Footnote: Cf. A. Wallace Rimington. Colour music (OP. CIT.) where
experiments are recounted with a colour organ, which gives symphonies of
rapidly changing colour without boundaries--except the unavoidable ones
of the white curtain on which the colours are reflected.--M.T.H.S.] A
never-ending extent of red can only be seen in the mind; when the word
red is heard, the colour is evoked without definite boundaries. If such
are necessary they have deliberately to be imagined. But such red, as is
seen by the mind and not by the eye, exercises at once a definite and an
indefinite impression on the soul, and produces spiritual harmony. I say
"indefinite," because in itself it has no suggestion of warmth or cold,
such attributes having to be imagined for it afterwards, as
modifications of the original "redness." I say "definite," because the
spiritual harmony exists without any need for such subsequent attributes
of warmth or cold. An analogous case is the sound of a trumpet which one
hears when the word "trumpet" is pronounced. This sound is audible to
the soul, without the distinctive character of a trumpet heard in the
open air or in a room, played alone or with other instruments, in the
hands of a postilion, a huntsman, a soldier, or a professional musician.
But when red is presented in a material form (as in painting) it
must possess (1) some definite shade of the many shades of red
that exist and (2) a limited surface, divided off from the other
colours, which are undoubtedly there. The first of these
conditions (the subjective) is affected by the second (the
objective), for the neighbouring colours affect the shade of red.
This essential connection between colour and form brings us to
the question of the influences of form on colour. Form alone,
even though totally abstract and geometrical, has a power of
inner suggestion. A triangle (without the accessory consideration
of its being acute-or obtuse-angled or equilateral) has a
spiritual value of its own. In connection with other forms, this
value may be somewhat modified, but remains in quality the same.
The case is similar with a circle, a square, or any conceivable
geometrical figure. [Footnote: The angle at which the triangle
stands, and whether it is stationary or moving, are of importance
to its spiritual value. This fact is specially worthy of the
painter's consideration.] As above, with the red, we have here a
subjective substance in an objective shell.
The mutual influence of form and colour now becomes clear. A
yellow triangle, a blue circle, a green square, or a green
triangle, a yellow circle, a blue square--all these are different
and have different spiritual values.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account