Quintessential Blue Project

The Legendary Hypnotic Reputation of the Undeniably Favored Color of Almost Everyone

Back in 1994, I found an intriguing survey taken by two serious-minded artists named Alex Melamid and Vitaly Komar, both Russian emigres. They set out to find which color is most overall favored adored and desired by ordinary folks, both artists and non. The survey results were then published in The Nation, March 14, 1994, issue titled The Search for a People’s Art. Their survey results showed that blue is far and away the all-time favorite color.

Following along with this survey, my Quintessential Blue project explores various blue pigments both synthetic and historical and how they relate to the everchanging colors of the ocean. Throughout the weeks of exploration more than a dozen blues were used in a total of eight new paintings.