The Pink Edition

Pink is considered an energetic color. It inspires confidence and is considered youthful, fun, and exciting.

The perception and meanings of pink have changed over the years going from one extreme to the other, and has been present in both high and low culture.

From renaissance portraits to the pop art movement they all have a strong representation of this contradicting color.

The name pink derives from the French word for the well-known flower: ‘rose’.

Nowadays pink is seen as a girl's color, but until the early 20th century this wasn’t the case.  Until then, red was the male color and pink, or "the little red", for boys. Blue was the feminine color and light blue for girls. If you look at historical paintings of Jesus and Mary for instance, Mary usually wears blue and Jesus wears pink. Around 1920, blue was increasingly associated with naval uniforms. Also factory workers at that time almost all wore blue. With this change, blue became the boys' color, while girls adopted the sweeter and more sensitive light pink. Only a few weeks ago the stong connotation of the color pink with femininity became headline news when fashion-conscious Italian police revolted after receiving batches of pink face masks to wear on duty, arguing that the 'eccentric' colour is ill-matched with their uniforms and refused to wear these 'inappropriate' masks. 

Pink has a soft energy that inspires confidence and is seen as youthful and fun.

Because of its association with the flower, pink is traditionally seen as an optimistic, happy and positive color. Think of the phrase 'a rosy future' or 'seeing everything through rose-colored glasses'.

Rutger Brandt Gallery

Bethaniënstraat 39, 1012 BZ Amsterdam, Netherlands