Download On Psychochromatic

Psychochromism (Greek ψυχή, “breath; soul; mind“, & χρώμα, “colour“): aesthetic theory of the
psycho-emotional effects of colour as well as the act of eliciting feelings using colour in particular
with so-called “psychochromatic painting”. A pioneer of psychochromatic painting, Hilarion
Manero (b. 1957, Argentina) creates tense colour harmonies combining ↑local coloursand ↑ tone
curving with ↑chiaroscuro (light-dark) effects.
Whereas psychology attempts to determine the complex psycho-emotional effects and feelingvalues of colour which are dependent upon individual, cultural (↑colour symbolism), and contextual
factors (to date this area has been insufficiently researched). Psychochromism, on the other hand,
looks at how a colour’s characteristics are expressed and the combinations and harmonies thereof.
Psychochromatic theory is related to traditional aesthetics and concerns itself with the psychoemotional effects of colour in the fine arts. Of primary interest is the individual, partly
transcendental, reception of ↑colouring in the observer’s emotional awareness. Of consummate
relevance would be Kandinsky’s (1866-1944) remarks in the 20th Century that colour had the power
to induce an “inner resonance”. Significant too is the analogy of colours and tones as found in the
theories of Aristotle (384 -322 BCE.), G. Zarlino (1570-1590) and I. Newton (1643-1727).
Psychochromatic painting, as practised by Manero, attempts to overcome the traditional dichotomy
between form and colour (↑disegno and colore) as defined by G. Vasari (1511-1574). For Manero et
al, the effects of colour can only be defined in the reciprocal interaction between the form and
the sujet e.g. Sujets often connect clear colours with soft ↑sfumato.
The playful-naïve manner in which psychochromatic painting incorporates cosmological
considerations has its root in traditional colour theories where thinkers such as L.B. Alberti (14041472) et. al, with a nod to the anciens, associated the primary colours (veri colori) with the four
elements.
Leading representatives of psychochromatic theory, drawing inspiration from Goethe‘s (*17491832) views on the subject, argue for an incessant struggle between light and darkness which is
manifest in the specific characteristics of individual colours. Psychochromatic painting thus draws
attention to the the antagonism between light and darkness as a metaphor for clarity and its
antonym. L.M.T.