Editing Black (section)

====18th and 19th centuries====
In the 18th century, during the European [[Age of Enlightenment]], black receded as a fashion color. Paris became the fashion capital, and pastels, blues, greens, yellow and white became the colors of the nobility and upper classes. But after the [[French Revolution]], black again became the dominant color. Black was the color of the industrial revolution, largely fueled by coal, and later by oil. Thanks to coal [[smoke]], the buildings of the large cities of Europe and America gradually turned [[black carbon|black]].  By 1846 the industrial area of the West Midlands of England was "commonly called 'the [[Black Country]]'".<ref>{{cite news|first=Chris|last=Upton|title=And so it came to pass...|url=http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/lifestyle/came-pass-3920518|newspaper=Birmingham Post|date=18 November 2011|access-date=29 February 2016|archive-date=3 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203073139/http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/lifestyle/came-pass-3920518|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Charles Dickens]] and other writers described the dark streets and smoky skies of London, and they were vividly illustrated in the [[wood-engraving]]s of French artist [[Gustave Doré]].

[[File:George-Henry-Boughton-Pilgrims-Going-To-Church.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''American Pilgrims in New England going to church'', [[George Henry Boughton]], 1867]]
A different kind of black was an important part of the [[romantic movement]] in literature. Black was the color of [[Melancholia|melancholy]], the dominant theme of romanticism. The novels of the period were filled with castles, ruins, dungeons, storms, and meetings at midnight. The leading poets of the movement were usually portrayed dressed in black, usually with a white shirt and open collar, and a scarf carelessly over their shoulder, [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] and Lord Byron helped create the enduring stereotype of the romantic poet.

[[File:Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) - Wheat Field with Crows (1890).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2| ''Wheat Field with Crows'' (1890), one of [[Vincent van Gogh]]'s last paintings]]
The invention of inexpensive synthetic black dyes and the industrialization of the textile industry meant that high-quality black clothes were available for the first time to the general population. In the 19th century black gradually became the most popular color of business dress of the upper and middle classes in England, the Continent, and America. Black dominated literature and fashion in the 19th century, and played a large role in painting. [[James McNeill Whistler]] made the color the subject of his most famous painting, ''Arrangement in grey and black number one''  (1871), better known as ''[[Whistler's Mother]]''.<ref>McNeill, James Abbott. "[https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search/commentaire/commentaire_id/portrait-of-the-artists-mother-2976.html?no_cache=1&cHash=b4a2bc9d88 Whistler Portrait of the Artist's Mother] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021195130/https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search/commentaire/commentaire_id/portrait-of-the-artists-mother-2976.html?no_cache=1&cHash=b4a2bc9d88 |date=21 October 2020 }}". [[Musee d'Orsay]]. Retrieved 18 October 2020</ref>

Some 19th-century French painters had a low opinion of black: "Reject black," [[Paul Gauguin]] said, "and that mix of black and white they call gray. Nothing is black, nothing is gray."<ref>Paul Gauguin, ''Oviri.  Écrits d'un sauvage''. Textes choisis (1892–1903). Editions D. Guerin, Paris, 1974, p. 123.</ref> But [[Édouard Manet]] used blacks for their strength and dramatic effect. Manet's portrait of painter [[Berthe Morisot]] was a study in black which perfectly captured her spirit of independence. The black gave the painting power and immediacy; he even changed her eyes, which were green, to black to strengthen the effect.<ref>Steffano Zuffi, ''Color in Art'', p. 302.</ref> [[Henri Matisse]] quoted the French impressionist [[Pissarro]] telling him, "Manet is stronger than us all – he made light with black."<ref>Jack Flam, ''Matisse on Art'', p. 175.</ref>

[[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]] used luminous blacks, especially in his portraits. When someone told him that black was not a color, Renoir replied: "What makes you think that? Black is the queen of colors. I always detested Prussian blue. I tried to replace black with a mixture of red and blue, I tried using cobalt blue or ultramarine, but I always came back to ivory black."<ref>Eva Heller, ''Psychologie de la couleur – effets et symboliques'', p. 107.</ref>

[[Vincent van Gogh]] used black lines to outline many of the objects in his paintings, such as the bed in the famous painting of his bedroom. making them stand apart. His painting of black crows over a cornfield, painted shortly before he died, was particularly agitated and haunting. In the late 19th century, black also became the color of [[anarchism]]. (See the section [[#Political movements|political movements]].)

<gallery widths="180" heights="180" class="center">
File:Carneiro e Gaspar, J. Courtois - Imperatriz Teresa Cristina.jpg|Portrait of Empress [[Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies|Teresa Cristina of Brazil]] (circa 1870)
File:Whistlers Mother high res.jpg|''Arrangement in Grey and Black Number 1'' (1871) by [[James McNeill Whistler]] better known as ''[[Whistler's Mother]]''.
File:Edouard Manet - Berthe Morisot With a Bouquet of Violets - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets]]'', by [[Édouard Manet]] (1872).
File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 023.jpg|''[[La Loge|The Theater Box]]'' (1874) by [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], captured the luminosity of black fabric in the light.
</gallery>