CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF BLACK IN THE FINE ARTS

Abstract

Although black, by definition, does not occur in the visible spectrum, being characterized as the complete absence or absorption of light (reference to absolute black, which in turn is non-existent, although science makes use of the absolute black body as a point of reference, eg Wien's Law, Stefan-Boltzmann's Law, Planck's Constanta), the intimacy of this noncolor with perception and implicitly with re (presentation) is the most accentuated of all the other possible combinations. Black also has the widest range of associations in human history. Associations can be reiterated from the symbolist ones (mourning, evil, decay, but also power, authority, solemnity and many others), cultural ones (some political, military, religious movements, idiomatic expressions, etc.), to the scientific ones ( physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, psychology) and of course aesthetics and art, with multiple inter- and intradisciplinary connections.