Life & Death of Lilacs (Part II)
I received a bunch of brilliantly purple lilacs this afternoon, an official sign of spring, some flowers already open releasing their strong floral scent, the rest simply red-purple buds waiting their turn. I inhaled deeply and within a few hours the leaves began to wilt and the blossoms dipped with thirst. They sit now, revived in a vase for the next couple of weeks at least, on my desk.
Here, lilacs, or syringa vulgaris, bloom only for a few weeks; its signal comparable to that of the cherry blossom, a reminder of spring, and a moment to cherish. The flowers are reddish purple but there are forms with darker red, nearly white, and even blue flowers. There are more than two hundred of these named varieties of syringa vulgaris now in cultivation.
The lilac also blooms in various ways in Western history; taking innocence, mourning, and life itself through its multifarious visual forms; studied in this three part series.
Intangible Life
The powerful image of the lilac itself also grew in late 19th century still lifes and landscapes. Of note, impressionists, Berthe Morisot, Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, and Édouard Manet represented lilacs as full, vibrant blossoms. Romanticism swept across the Western world as artists sought to capture the connection between nature, society, and human behavior. Science and mythology blended in soft palettes and gentle, layered brushstrokes while painting outdoors or bringing nature into the home.
Morisot’s ‘Beneath the Lilac at Maurecourt’ depicts a mother and two children on a sunny day under a pink lilac tree. The renewal of spring effortlessly represented in the flower known for its brief bloom and the innocence of children. Daily life of a well-to-do woman integrated with the landscape.
Monet placed his easel on the same spot to study changes in the light, clarifying his intentions by the titles he chose, ‘Lilacs in the Sun’ and ‘Lilacs in Grey Weather.’ In both pieces, characters sit under a bush of lilacs in bloom, one in overcast, the other in sunshine - demonstrating life is not fixed but in continual flux.
Manet and Cassatt both presented lilac blossoms in their still lifes, ‘Lilacs in a Glass’ and ‘Lilacs in a Window’ respectively. In full bloom with no sign of wilting, Manet’s white lilacs, and Cassatt’s mixture of pale purple and white lilacs, bask in sunlight and fill the composition with life.
Moving past the impressionist movement, Vincent Van Gogh painted ‘Lilac Bush' in the hospital gardens of Saint-Remy in 1889. The thick, expressive brushstrokes reflect the romance and wistfulness of the overgrown garden. Vibrant purple initially catches your eye in the bloomed lilacs covering the bush, their hues emphasized by the sky behind.
Even through all these impressionist (and not) varieties of lilac, we still endeavor to capture nature’s beauty within our manmade spaces. Today, we define the pigment of “lilac” as a lighter purple, deepening its connection to the pastels of spring today yet limiting the flower’s natural range and significations. 2019 through 2020 that pastel hue emerged as a trending color, often described as serene, lilac [and lavender],
“Dreamy, airy and romantically wistful, these purples are by no means childish, nor senior. If you are into pastels but feel wary of coming off as overly sweet, lilac will help you pull off the trendy pastel look while giving it a more mature edge.”
Now, unfortunately, renamed “Millennial Purple,” it is the succession to infamous “Millennial Pink” that exploded across 21st century visual culture.
Apple joins the trend comparing the lilac color of (and the iOS upgrades to) the new iPhone 12 to the sweetness of candy. The teaser commercial premiered April 20, 2021 with purple liquid, powder, and smoke magically combining to form, et voila, a new Millennial Purple toy; the tagline, “Mmmmm, purple.”
Some expect this trend to evolve towards deeper and richer purple shades, called berry, dark fuchsia and dusty orchid. Essentially, the predicted waves of purple encapsulate the varieties of the lilac plant. Until then, the familiar pastel lilac reigns supreme, as we attempt to capture nature in a bottle, we invite its sweet but palatable representative into our homes and our pockets.