Moody blues

From BlackWhite magazine - issue 06, accent

Bold mercurial blues are the must-have accent colour of the moment.

Particular tones of blue are named after things they look like, such as Periwinkle blue (named after a flower of the same hue), Uranian blue (for its similarity to the planet) and Sapphire blue (which bears a strong resemblance to the gemstone). There are also many blues named after places, often because they match the flag (like Argentinian blue) or are evocative of an element of the local culture (such as Delft blue, for its similarly to the colour used in the Dutch pottery known as Delftware). But there is perhaps only one specific blue that is named after an individual person: Klein blue.

Born in 1928 in Nice, France, artist Yves Klein had a lifelong obsession with colour. The pieces he is best known for were monochromatic paintings. At first, these works were created in an array of hues. However, he eventually took to a singular spectacular blue hue for creating his most iconic works.

Klein’s obsession with blue stemmed from a deep love for the cerulean skies of the French Mediterranean – which he famously declared to be his first artwork. As early as 1956, Klein experimented with a polymer binder to preserve the luminescence and powdery texture of raw yet unstable ultramarine pigment. He suspended it in a synthetic resin called ‘rhodopas’ that he came across with the help of Edouard Adam, a Parisian paint dealer. This optical effect retained the vivid brilliance of the pigment which had the tendency to become dull when suspended in other popular painting mediums, like linseed oil. In 1960, he patented his formula as International Klein Blue (IKB).

During the same mid-century period, the colour became popular in decorating and is recognised as one of the defining hues of the era. Klein blue came back into vogue in the 1990s, and recently, it has become a must-have accent colour once again. What is it about this hue and similarly bold blues that we find so captivating? Yves Klein had some insights on that, too. “Blue is the invisible becoming visible. Blue has no dimensions, it is beyond the dimensions of which other colours partake,” he concluded. Klein adopted his signature hue as a means of evoking the immateriality and boundlessness of his own particular utopian vision of the world. For him, this blue held significant meaning, representing his spirituality and religious upbringing, the essence of natural elements like the water and sky, as well as the near infinite expanse of the universe.

While blues that bear a strong resemblance to Klein blue, such as Resene Resolution Blue, Resene Space Cadet, Resene Wet N Wild and Resene Aviator, have seen a sharp rise in popularity over recent months, other equally moody and mercurial bold blues have been trending such as Resene St Kilda, Resene Bondi Blue, Resene Picton Blue, Resene Allports and Resene Blumine. These hues feel both modern yet timeless in a way that keeps designers coming back to them again and again, using them in new and interesting ways that never cease to inspire.

› Have you used a bold Resene blue in a recent project? Share it with us at editor@blackwhitemag.com.

BlackWhite magazine

This is a magazine created for the industry, by the industry and with the industry – and a publication like this is only possible because of New Zealand and Australia's remarkably talented and loyal Resene specifiers and users.

If you have a project finished in Resene paints, wood stains or coatings, whether it is strikingly colourful, beautifully tonal, a haven of natural stained and clear finishes, wonderfully unique or anything in between, we'd love to see it and have the opportunity to showcase it. Submit your projects online or email editor@blackwhitemag.com. You're welcome to share as many projects as you would like, whenever it suits. We look forward to seeing what you've been busy creating.

Earn CPD reading this magazine – If you're a specifier, earn ADNZ or NZRAB CPD points by reading BlackWhite magazine. Once you've read an issue request your CPD points via the CPD portal for ADNZ (for NZ architectural designers) or NZRAB (for NZ architects).