Pablo Picasso had a blue period, from 1901-1904, which started with the death of a close friend. During this period he produced almost exclusively monochromatic paintings in shades of blue and blue-green, only occasionally warmed by other colors. At the time, he achieved little success at the time with these paintings, which might be hard to believe now.
As he gradually emerged from his depression, Picasso entered a rose period, where he began to use warmer colors in his work.
Then, there was “De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period”, the story by J.D. Salinger about a lonely and alienated young man whose narcissism and pretentiousness insulate him from his own suffering. Eventually, the protagonist transcends his self-absorption and misanthropy through epiphanies that reveal to him the presence of God.
I wonder am I entering a blue period. First, I painted the back of my bookshelves blue. Then I put blue lights on the outside of the house for the holiday season, saying they represented the blue wave I want to see in our country but haven’t yet. Also, I’m self-absorbed, like Salinger’s character.
