Lazure
by Robert Logsdon

“Lazure” painting has become a familiar term around Waldorf Schools. “What does the word ‘lazure’ mean? Where does it come from? Why are classrooms of Waldorf Schools often painted so colorfully?” I will endeavor to answer these questions and offer a brief description of the lazure painting process, its origins, inspiration and indications. Keep in mind this will be brief. We hope to bring about a complete book on the subject in the near future.

WHAT IS LAZURE
Lazure refers to a method of painting walls using layers of paint prepared nearly as thin and transparent as watercolor. The "paint" consists of water, a binder, and pigment and is applied with a rhythmical motion using large brushes. The final color experience is achieved using several layers, usually different in color, applied over a white surface. Light passes through these thin layers of color and is reflected back, giving a pure color experience. Thus, a space is enlivened with color nuances as found in the natural world. Monotones are not at home in nature.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT
Flat, monotone colors are tiring on the eyes while color with variation of hue and tone stimulate and balance the activity of the eyes. The lazure method offers a creative and conscientious use of color that provides nourishment for the eye and the soul. It can achieve aesthetically beautiful results AND act as a powerful healing influence amid the stress and tension of modern life. Lazured walls are found in a variety of settings including offices, restaurants, residences, schools, curative and medical establishments and churches.

WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM
Rudolf Steiner encouraged artists to paint walls with transparent radiant color. He used the word “lasur” to describe this new way of coloring walls—where color would feel as though it were in the space and not just on the wall. The German word was commonly used to describe many glazing techniques—some of which had been around for centuries. It was the only suitable word at the time. Walls were not painted with glaze then as they are today. Since the 1980's glaze, faux finishes, and trompe l’oeil have become quite popular. The ancient art of trompe l’oeil refers to the practice of painting surfaces to give them the illusion of being something else— a window, a view, a stone arch, or wood moldings. The lasur painting technique, which Steiner introduced, was used in some mural painting but was not intended to create illusion. Its purpose was not to represent something else but to be itself—transparent color over a white surface—allowing light to shine through the color and reflect back from the surface. This provided a pure experience of color—as though one could “spiritually pass through the walls”. In 1952 in Stuttgart, Germany, at a conference entitled Color and Space (hmmm, sounds like a good name for a business), Julius Hebing gave a lecture on the lasur technique. He referred to Rudolf Steiner’s “culture impulse” in using this method to paint rooms and hallways in a style similar to the one he (Steiner) used in painting the domes of the first Goetheanum

WHEN WAS IT FIRST USED
Even in 1907 and 1908 Steiner was speaking of new impulses in the arts and demonstrating these new directions. In a lecture given in 1911 he spoke especially of the importance of transparent color on walls. The early attempts were often unsuccessful because the application of fluid color on vertical surfaces had not been achieved. Rudolf Steiner developed organic paints to be used on the two interlocking domes of the first Goetheanum building. First the white coats, then the medium to carry the pigments. Plant colors were also developed and used for the murals on these domes. Although Steiner's original formulas lay dormant many years, research continued to re-establish organic mediums and plant color production. These were available in the 1970's and further developed in the 80's and 90's and used in the Goetheanum.

WHEN DID SCHOOLS ADOPT LASUR
The question of using lasur in the Stuttgart School came up in 1953. Dr. Schwebsch saw the future potential of this impulse and convinced the faculty to use the lasur method in the reconstructed main building of the school. Manfred Ziegler and Julius Hebing were responsible for the work. By 1954 a few rooms in the Weleda building in Schwabish Gmud had also been painted. The first Waldorf School to be completely lasur painted was the Kristoffer School in Sweden, painted by Arne Klingborg and Fritz Fuchs in 1956-57. They used acrylic medium for the lasur work. During World War II, when linseed oil became scarce, developments were made by the inventors of artificial resins. These were used for general wall paint as well as for preparing acrylic medium that could be used for the lasur technique. This provided the boost needed for the lazure development. Still, the preferred materials would be organic, or natural, and not synthetic.

THE PIONEERS & EARLY EXAMPLES OF THE WORK
It is well worth noting that the curative home “Mikaelgarden” (Jarna, Sweden) is one of the earliest examples of lasur. It was carried by Arne Klinborg and Helmut Lauer in 1935 using tempura paint. It is also an early example of the complete integration of glass, form, and color. The Swedish artist Arne Klingborg, and the English architect living in Germany, Rex Raab were very strong pioneers of the lasur work. Klingborg inspired Fritz Fuchs who subsequently became the best known lasur artist in Europe. Naturally, many others have followed in their respective countries and huge projects have been accomplished. Uwe Janke, of Germany met with Fritz and Arne in 1961 about lasur work. Seven years later he patented the first professional grade large production paint products for lasur. Later Fritz got production rights to provide these paints in Sweden. The Farbygge Company became established in Jarna, Sweden. The paints are now available in the USA from New Century Paints (PO Box 272, Great Barrington, MA 01230). In Jarna Sweden many projects have been accomplished by Fritz Fuchs. His work can be seen in the Vidarklinneken, an anthroposophical hospital; several Waldorf Schools; many residential settings; and the Kulturhaus, a very large and beautiful building serving the larger community of southern Sweden.

MY INTRODUCTION TO LASUR
There are many more examples to be found in a number of countries around the world. Perhaps the largest project to date was the Herdecke Community Hospital in Germany. This facility with approximately 650 rooms was planned and executed by Uwe Janke (the lasur work) and Walter RoggenKamp (the facade). Another large project was the Swiss curative community of Ekkarthof with nearly 300 rooms. In 1973, by arrangements of Anne Stockton (my painting teacher at Emerson College) and under the tutelage of Fritz Fuchs, I worked on this project designed by Rex Rabb. In 1974 I joined Anne Stockton on a tour of conferences in the U.S.A. introducing lasur and painting some rooms. After another year at Emerson and more lasur work in England, I returned to the U.S. in 1976 and started "ColorSpace" with the hope of continuing the work in the United States.

A NEW WORD FOR THE PROCESS
I was using the German word but found that Americans confused lasur with laser - a newly emerging scientific technology utilizing light. The word lasur, I realized, was really a general term, like glaze in English. (What has become commonly known as “glaze finishes” evolved from the original beginnings known as lasur.) “Lasur”, therefore, did not articulate the specific method of painting to which we were referring. There was no specific word to describe what we were doing. After some research I formulated the word "lazure" It is derived from azure—the only word in English I could find bearing some semblance of sound and meaning to the word lasur. The word is of Persian origin “lazuward” referring to lapis lazuli. It was passed on to the Arabs and then to the Spanish as “azur” or “azul”. Old French borrowed azur from Old Spanish and passed it on to English. At one time the French used “l’azure”. Our new American word, then, is most closely related to the French. The word azure, already in the English language, comes directly from the French and refers to the blue appearing in a clear sky. This fact convinced me to use the word lazure. The word is now widely used and often by Europeans as well.

EXPERIENCE COLOR
To behold the color blue in the sky, look through a transparent light filled medium—the atmosphere surrounding earth (illuminated by the sun)—to the darkness of cosmic space. This is an example of the appearance of a cool color created where darkness is viewed through light. Looking toward sunset, darkness is in front of light and we experience the creation of warm colors. In this position we view the light through darkness. These archetypal examples illustrate fundamental principles of the appearance of color created by the interplay of light and darkness. There are many examples of this. View a column of smoke with the light in front and then view the same smoke with light behind the smoke (darkness). The extensive research of J.W. Goethe in his book, Theory of Color, demonstrates many examples revealing the polarity of warm / cool colors (red-blue polarities) and active / passive (red-green polarities)—Color study is essential for the lazure work. Lazure painting is not only a technique but encompasses color research in architectural applications and in human psychology.

COLORS IN WALDORF SCHOOLS’ CLASSROOMS
When you observe that each subsequent year the children experience a different colored room you begin to realize there is a sequence of colors. It begins with peach blossom in kindergarten (the children’s garden) to red-vermilion in the first grade. Moving on through the grades the children experience the rainbow sequence of color ending with blue-violet in the eighth grade. The high school colors are subtler in their sequence of violet, reddish violet, red violet and peach blossom. The peach blossom of the 12th grade is usually lighter or more delicate than the rich color found on the kindergarten walls. In this way the child experiences, in an unconscious fashion, all the basic moods of soul forming a whole. Naturally we are reminded of the biblical description of the rainbow as God's covenant with man (humanity) as it appeared to Noah when the waters were divided between heaven and earth. With the sun’s light behind us we look toward the darkness to behold the rainbow. It is the water element in the atmosphere that enables the colors to appear. It is, one might say, the water of life. The Waldorf curriculum is based on large phases of human development as reflected in the major cultural epochs throughout the ages. The colors suggested for the classrooms bear a relationship to the qualities of consciousness revealed in these great cultures of our ancient history. Just as we move through the zodiac in the course of a year—so we have moved through phases of human development in a greater cycle. In a general way one can view the child as gradually descending into the physical body. The body is not immediately adapted to earth conditions but is gradually prepared; so, too, is the soul of each child. The red vermilion, orange, and yellow colors provide warmth and protection a child needs. The red colors calm a child, for until the approximate age of 9 the opposite, or complimentary, color is experienced intensely inwardly. As the child awakens intellectually to the sense world, his or her experience of color changes. The red colors become more stimulating while the cool colors relax and calm. In ancient India the consciousness was more at home in the spiritual world than on earth. Red is at the top of the rainbow and descends through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Children are most drawn to red. They are at home with red. A wholeness is contained in red - a culmination of an intensification process moving through the other colors. Add red to blue and to yellow, they are enhanced or intensified toward red. Red is related in quality to ancient India. It is also related to the abundant life force pulsating through the child. Circular forms, rhythmical games, and fairy tales dominate. The circle implies wholeness—encompassing all humanity, the globe, the zodiac, the entire cosmos. All forms evolving from the circle or sphere are further articulations. As we define, we make smaller, separate out from the whole. In red is contained the whole, the culmination of light and darkness. In the second grade we progress to orange. In the ancient Persian culture, Zanathustra led the people to a greater experience of light and darkness. They learned to impose their will on the earth. They began to cultivate and grow food. The mysteries of light and dark work upon growing plants. In the third grade, yellow is recommended and relates to the Egyptian/Babylonian epoch. The experience of light dominates. The building of the pyramids was the first major architectural achievement. The light filled being of the child begins a major transition around the age of nine. Their questioning seeks answers with ever more emphasis on the natural-physical world while at the same time the spiritual holds true as conveyed through the fairy tales and fables of the first and second grades and biblical stories of the third grade. Yellow to green is recommended in the fourth grade reflecting this transition. Green in the fifth grade reveals human consciousness arriving fully on earth. The Greek culture, studied in the fifth grade, experienced balance, gracefulness and beauty. This is revealed through their sculpture and paints. The mythological, image-filled consciousness reveals also the awareness of two worlds in one—the spiritual and the physical. Green is the color of balance between light and darkness. It is the transition from the warm side of the spectrum to the cool side. The plant kingdom is studied and again the meeting of light and dark merge to create the green—exemplified in the world of plants. The sixth grade enters a blue green room and one feels the weight of earth. The Roman culture was firmly rooted on the earth. They studied physical laws. The gymnastics of the fifth grade continue and help bring balance. It is helpful when the room for this is colored in orange to balance the weight of the blue green. The forces of puberty enter around the age in which children enter the seventh grade. Here one finds an indigo blue classroom. It is the darkest color and contains the greatest capacity for light and dark. A fact based consciousness is further developed through all the subjects. Spatial perspective, from an earthly standpoint, characterizes the Renaissance lessons. With blue violet in the eighth grade, the students complete the color circle and prepare to cross the threshold into high school and begin a new seven year cycle of maturation. As described earlier the colors for the high school are more subtly articulated, ranging from violet to peach blossom. Greater discernment in thinking and in perception are called forth in the upper grades. Violet leads the soul inward and helps the child to introvert his soul life and find his own self. The ability to judge grows with the developing ego and is mirrored by the intensifying red within the violet which is found in the tenth and eleventh grades. At this age the child strives to become a free human being in a free community. Peach blossom, in the twelfth grade crowns the color circle. Quoting from John Fletcher's book Art Inspired by Rudolf Steiner “containing all the other colors, peach blossom exits in the balance that the human ego always needs to create between the active red-yellow colors, which lead outward, and the blue-purple colors, which lead inward”.

Lazure Painting by Robert Logsdon