Blue hour

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Praia da Ursa, Sintra, Portugal. A blue hour seascape seen in wide angle.
The Colosseum during the blue hour
The illuminated mining lamp memorial in Moers during the blue hour
The blue hour in Zwickau, Germany

The blue hour comes from the French expression l'heure bleue, which refers to the period of twilight each morning and evening where there is neither full daylight nor complete darkness. The time is considered special because of the quality of the light at this time of day.

Contents

[edit] A time of innocence

The phrase is also used to refer to Paris immediately prior to World War I, which was considered to be a time of relative innocence.[citation needed]

[edit] Influence in popular culture

As a result of the perceived specialness of this time, there are various restaurants, theatres and hotels called L'Heure Bleue located worldwide. There is also a women's perfume by Guerlain (1912) of the same name. The Norwegian rock band Madrugada (Spanish and Portuguese for "early morning") were also named after this time.

In English culture the term was used to describe the period of inactivity and uselessness a drinker encounters when pubs and other licensed premises have closed after the lunch-time session (typically 15:30 hrs) and will not open for the evening session until (typically 18:30 hrs) based on pub opening times in England. Scotland and Wales, now largely abolished in favour of all-day opening.

[edit] Art

  • l'Heure Bleue is a concept often expressed, in his works and in his thought, by the contemporary artist Jan Fabre[1]

[edit] Books

[edit] Films

[edit] Music

The blue hour is also a common theme in popular music and the subject appears in various songs:

[edit] Photography

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Troubleyn Jan Fabre Performing Arts". http://www.troubleyn.be. Retrieved 2006-11-09. 
  2. ^ Template:Title=The Junior Encyclopedia of Canada
  3. ^ Blue Hour. HarperCollins. 2003. ISBN 0060099127. 
  4. ^ Gorey, Edward (1975). Fantod Press / Gotham Book Mart. 
  5. ^ Evans, Elizabeth (1995 (First Edition)). Algonquin Books. ISBN 978-1565121249. 
  6. ^ DeGenova, Albert (2008). Virtual Artists Collective. ISBN 978-0979882531. 
  7. ^ "L'Heure Bleue" lyrics

[edit] External links

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