With over 400 items on display, this exhibition illustrates the diversity of the decorative arts museum’s collections and the importance of the colour red – its symbolism, its technical and material use. We discover the many different fields in which red has been used in our society at different times, as well as the infinite variety of reds that exist: chestnut, turkey-red, burgundy, cardinal-red, carmine, cherry-red, crimson, scarlet, magenta , purple, rust, terracotta , vermilion and many more…
The colour red is ambivalent, multiple, frightening, powerful, majestic,
luxurious, erotic, fairylike and infernal. Its powerful symbolism is also linked to two main elements, fire and blood. This show can be approached from a number of different angles, each revealing a different facet of its subject: danger red; infernal red; sensuous, voluptuous red; red and power; luxury and red clothes; the timelessness of red in the decorative arts; dyeing techniques…