Did you know that blue pigment was once considered to be as valuable as gold? In ancient times, owning paintings and artifacts containing the color blue was no small feat. The invention of the blue pigment is attributed to the early Egyptians, who reserved its use for artwork commissioned by royalty. The still widely-used ultramarine blue was developed a little later on, originally being made with crushed precious minerals. Thankfully, we now have less-expensive synthetic means of producing this color, so today’s artists and collectors are able to create and own works featuring it without breaking the bank!

Talk about specific interests! In the early 1900s, a group of artists called Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) formed and exhibited together in Münich, Germany. Keeping in tune with their title, these expressionist artists were collectively interested in the using the color blue and creating work featuring horseback riders in order to promote messages of spirituality, power, and freedom. 

When George Rodrigue began his Blue Dog paintings in the late 1980s, his painting career catapulted to worldwide success. By the 1990s, Rodrigue only focused on this subject, creating hundreds of paintings of the same Blue Dog in a myriad of settings and situations. According to the artist, “People who have seen a Blue Dog painting always remember it. They are really about life, about mankind searching for answers."