November 23 is International Watercolor Day. The initiator of the establishment of the holiday was the Mexican artist Alfredo Guati Rojo (Spanish). Alfredo Guati Rojo, 1918-2003). It was he, being an outstanding watercolor artist, and also convinced that watercolor can convey the beauty of the world no worse than oil painting, in 1991 proposed holding International Watercolor Day annually on November 23.
Largely thanks to the efforts of this man, interest in watercolors is revived in the second half of the 20th century. Alfredo Guati Rojo himself was the first to found the Watercolor Society of Mexico, the Watercolor Museum, and later promoted the spread of similar societies in other countries.
A landmark event in the history of watercolor painting was the invention of paper in China in the second century and its use as the basis for paintings and drawings. It is from there that watercolor originates. This painting technique became widespread in Europe much later: in the 17th century.
The name of the technique comes from similar French and Italian words, which literally mean «watery» when translated into Russian, and the root of the word — «aqua» translated from Latin means «water». The name indicates the type of paints used in this painting technique. These are paints based on water-soluble substances — adhesives of plant origin. The use of such paints makes it possible to achieve the effect of airiness and lightness of the image, smooth transitions. Achieving such an effect is facilitated by the use of paper as the basis of the painting, as well as its preliminary moistening.
Painting by William Turner «Firwaldstätt Lake» (1802, British Tate Gallery, London, Public Domain)
The best watercolor paper is whatman paper, Bristol cardboard and torshon. Returning to the paints used in watercolor painting, it is worth noting that their composition, in addition to the water-soluble adhesive base and dye, includes substances that provide plasticity to the paint (glycerin), prevent the sheet of paper (bovine bile) from rolling off the surface, and also protect against mold, the appearance of which is possible due to the natural origin of the elements of the paint composition (phenol).
Modern artists working in the watercolor technique use not only classic watercolor paints and brushes, but also the emerging watercolor pencils and wax crayons to work out individual elements and fragments of the painting.
Among the artists who worked in watercolor technology, A. is especially highlighted. Durer, Van Dyck, K. Lorrena, J. Castiglione. At the end of the 18th century, watercolors became widespread in England, although this initially happened among amateurs, not professional artists. Portrait miniatures have become popular in society. However, soon a whole galaxy of professional watercolor artists appeared in England. Among them, one cannot fail to mention U. Turner, D. Cox, S. Prouta, W.G. Hanta, F. Walker and many others.
Painting K.P. Bryullova «Sleep of a young girl before dawn» (1830-1833, Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Public Domain)
In the 19th century, watercolor became widespread in Europe, the USA and Russia. Many 19 — artists of the early 20th century devoted part of their work or entirely to watercolors. Average them E. Delacroix, P. Cezanne, D.S. Sargent, P.F. Sokolov, K. Bryullov and A. Bryullov, L. Lagorio, M. Vrubel, I. Repin, A. Benoit, V. Kandinsky and many others.
The Watercolor Society appeared in Russia in 1887, but after the revolution of 1917 its activities ceased, despite the fact that even during the Soviet period, artists’ interest in watercolor never faded. The revival occurred in 1998, when the «Society of Watercolorists of St. Petersburg» appeared. The Sergei Andriyaka Academy of Watercolor and Fine Arts is currently operating in Russia.
As a rule, already on the eve of International Watercolor Day, exhibitions of paintings by artists working in this interesting painting technique are being held in different cities of the world with the direct participation of Watercolor Societies.
Postcard «November 23 — International Watercolor Day» Story «Watercolor world»