Blue Monday

Untitled by Yves Klein
dry pigment in synthetic polymer on cotton over plywood
6'  4   7/8"  x  55   1/8"
1961

I heaved a collective sigh of relief when I read I wasn't alone in feeling a little blue. British psychologist Cliff Arnall calls Blue Monday the most miserable day of the year. The jury is out as to whether it hit on January 17th or the 24th. Since the 17th was a national holiday, I was still enjoying the mental freedom of the weekend and it didn't hit me until the 18th, but I take some comfort that I was still pretty much on schedule with the general public! I just woke up and felt out of sorts. There wasn't anything in particular that was depressing me; it was your basic  melancholy and ennui.  Couldn't put my finger on what the malaise was all about until I read an article about the phenomenon.  Arnall attributes it to the end of the year let-down, when the excitement of Christmas and New Years are past, when the bills are coming in, it's cold, the phone isn't ringing, and New Year resolutions are falling by the wayside already. It was somehow comforting to know that I wasn't alone in feeling despondent; that it was all part of being human!

Blue Monday by Carolyn Brown

oil on canvas

5' x 6'

1982