ARTISTS
Drawing on Blue
Blue paper has been a popular artist material since the fifteenth century. Crafted from blue rags formed into sheets, this humble material that required expert knowledge to produce and had a profound impact on early modern European artistic production. As a middle tone, the material allowed artists to easily model forms in light and dark, while also proving to be well suited for working in colored chalks. Through new technical examination of drawings in the Getty鈥檚 collection, this exhibition offers fresh insight into the physical properties of blue paper, and its unique contribution to artistic practice from the 15th through 18th centuries.
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Blue paper has been a popular artist material since the fifteenth century. Crafted from blue rags formed into sheets, this humble material that required expert knowledge to produce and had a profound impact on early modern European artistic production. As a middle tone, the material allowed artists to easily model forms in light and dark, while also proving to be well suited for working in colored chalks. Through new technical examination of drawings in the Getty鈥檚 collection, this exhibition offers fresh insight into the physical properties of blue paper, and its unique contribution to artistic practice from the 15th through 18th centuries.
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This recently opened show highlights the many ways artists across Europe capitalized on the unique properties of blue paper in their practices.
Carefully crafted from blue rags formed into sheets, blue paper possesses distinctive aesthetic qualities that have long fascinated European artists...
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