The Blue Vase is an aspect of a painting that is flat and has no volume, thereby making the more completely rendered aspects of the painting even more volumous by comparison. The concept of the Blue Vase was first utalized in 1955 by Bathazar Klossowski de Rola, also known as 'Balthus,' in his painting Nude Before a Mirror. This painting, which, like many Balthus paintings, features an unclothed female minor, also includes a small blue vase which transforms an otherwise drab, pedophelic painting into a volumous, bright, and elegant piece of artwork.

Along with being an element of design, the Blue Vase is a movement that attempts to establish the very same principle first perfected by Balthus in a historical context; the Blue Vase seeks to improve near-perfect pieces of historical artwork, including pieces before and after 1955, by including the Blue Vase as a fresh element to the composition.