Avsnitt
-
Have you ever wondered whether pink really is for girls and blue for boys? In our final episode of series two, Beks is joined by Dr Vien Cheung, Associate Professor at the University of Leeds, and National Gallery Educator Ed Dickenson to explore the surprising, gendered history of pink and blue.
We trace the rise of fashion's 'shocking pink', the cultural impact of the Barbie movie, and the enduring image of one of art history's most frequently depicted women dressed in blue. Listen to uncover how colour influences fashion, film, psychology, and even athletic performance – challenging assumptions about what pink and blue really mean.
-------
Vien is an Associate Professor at the University of Leeds, with a research interest in colour from all angles - from science and technology to psychology and philosophy, to art and design.
Ed started his teaching career in Japan before working as a primary school teacher in London. He has worked on the learning teams of several museums and galleries including the Horniman, Historic Royal Palaces, and Ben Uri Gallery. He has been a Gallery Educator at the National Gallery since 2017.
-------
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA2RzHwsoyY
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-------
Paintings mentioned:
Andrea Solario, ‘A Man with a Pink’, About 1495 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/andrea-solario-a-man-with-a-pink
Raphael, ‘The Madonna of the Pinks ('La Madonna dei Garofani')’, About 1506-7 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/raphael-the-madonna-of-the-pinks-la-madonna-dei-garofani
Paolo Veronese, ‘The Family of Darius before Alexander’, 1565-7 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paolo-veronese-the-family-of-darius-before-alexander
William Hogarth, ‘The Graham Children’, 1742 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/william-hogarth-the-graham-children
-------
Further reading:
'Legally Blonde', 2022 [Film]
Kassia St Clair, ‘The Secret Lives of Colour’, 2016 [Book]
Jo B. Paoletti, ‘Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America’, 2012 [Book]
Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department Trade Publication, June 1918 [Article]
Find out more about Alexander Schauss’s research on Baker-Miller pink: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236843504_The_Physiological_Effect_of_Color_on_the_Suppression_of_Human_Aggression_Research_on_Baker-Miller_Pink
Find out more about research on the ‘red advantage’ in sports: https://redadvantage.webspace.durham.ac.uk/research/ https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/news/olympic-red-advantage/
Find out more about Elsa Schiaparelli here: https://www.schiaparelli.com/en/21-place-vendome/the-story-of-the-house/
Find out more about Andy Warhol’s prints: https://warholfoundation.org/warhol/catalogue-raisonne/catalogues-raisonnes-print/
Find out more about Pantone’s 2016 colours of the year – Rose quartz and Serenity: https://www.pantone.com/uk/en/articles/color-of-the-year/color-of-the-year-2016?srsltid=AfmBOorv2IjZznAonfFTmp2fnJPDc_04sI9CprjGL3wZS8EcjY9S_5lU
-------
Episode credits:
Guests: Dr Vien Cheung and Ed Dickenson
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Tom Gulliver and Timothy Carpenter
Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti
Editor: Oli Mason
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
Today we're on a hunt with artists through time, searching for the blackest black. We’re after the deepest blacks, the most accurate blacks and the most atmospheric blacks.
Beks is joined by artist Stuart Semple to help answer questions such as: is black really a colour and how do we see the colour black?
Step back in time to the Palaeolithic era to discover ancient cave paintings at the Lascaux caves. Then jump forward in time to hear about the scientific breakthrough Vantablack and the debates it has caused.
-------
Stuart Semple is a multidisciplinary British artist whose work spans painting, performance, internet art, and installation. His work is known for its vibrant use of colour and techniques that challenge societal norms and question the role of the artist.
-------
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q67HKmopxSI
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-------
Paintings mentioned:
Frans Hals, ‘The Laughing Cavalier’, 1624 © The Wallace Collection, London https://www.wallacecollection.org/explore/collection/search-the-collection/laughing-cavalier/
John Singer Sargent, ‘Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau)’, 1883-84 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12127
John Singer Sargent, ‘Lord Ribblesdale’, 1902 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/john-singer-sargent-lord-ribblesdale
-------
Further reading:
Find out more about the history of the Lascaux caves: https://lascaux.fr/en/history-of-lascaux/
If you want to find out more about how we see colour, check out our first ever episode of 'Stories in Colour': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYTWp_iLRh4&list=PLvb2y26xK6Y5oKGCTKesXyO-LR3f2XcZF&index=19
Isaac Newton, ‘Opticks: A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light’, 1704 [Book] https://wellcomecollection.org/works/d445akky/items
Find out more about Vantablack: https://www.vantablack.co.uk/
Take a look at Asif Khan's Hyundai Pavillion: https://www.asif-khan.com/project/hyundai-pavilion/
Find out more about Sir Anish Kapoor’s work with Vantablack: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/03/11/anish-kapoor-to-unveil-worlds-blackest-sculptures-during-2021-venice-biennale https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/anish-kapoor/#venue
Find out more about Stuart Semple's work: https://stuartsemple.com/
Find out more about MIT's "blackest black" coating and 'The Redemption of Vanity': https://news.mit.edu/2019/blackest-black-material-cnt-0913
Robert Fludd, ‘Utriusque cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica, physica atque technica historia ... [Tractatus secundus de naturae simia seu technica macrocosmi historia]’, 1624 [Book] https://wellcomecollection.org/works/tymqmuxa/items?canvas=42
-------
Episode credits:
Guest: Stuart Semple
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren, Tom Gulliver and Timothy Carpenter
Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti
Editor: Oli Mason
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
Saknas det avsnitt?
-
You might have heard of men like Isaac Newton or Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, but who were the pioneering women writing on colour theory?
To answer that question, we’re joined by cultural historian Alexandra Loske and The Colour Club founder Zeynep Sagir. Together, they uncover the lives of figures like Martha Gartside, Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Carry van Biema.
From intricate colour grids to radical visual experiments, we study the work, stories and lasting legacies of these women – revealing how their influence is being recognised today.
-------
Alexandra is a colour expert, art historian and museum curator. Her exhibition 'Colour: A Chromatic Promenade through the Royal Pavilion' was on display at The Royal Pavilion in Brighton in 2025. She is also author of 'The Artist's Palette' and 'Colour: A Visual History'.
Zeynep is an artist, colour consultant, and founder of The Colour Club. Through The Colour Club, Zeynep runs workshops, hosts events, and offers consultancy, as well as publishing articles and interviews.
-------
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YK3CVlqDe4
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-------
Additional note:
Since this episode was recorded, Alexandra has undertaken some additional research into Mary Gartside and has found that her name was Martha Gartside.
Find out more about Martha Gartside and Alexandra’s research here: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/69706
https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/centre-for-life-history-and-life-writing-research/research/projects/lives-in-colour
-------
Paintings mentioned:
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Fighting Temeraire’, 1839 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-fighting-temeraire
Angelica Kauffman RA, 'Colouring', 1778-80. Oil on canvas. 1260 mm x 1485 mm x 25 mm. © Royal Academy of Arts, London; photographer: John Hammond. (RA ref. 03/1130) https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/colour
-------
Further reading:
Alexandra Loske, ‘The Artist's Palette: The Palettes Behind the Paintings of 50 Great Artists’, 2024 [Book]
Alexandra Loske, ‘Colour: A Visual History’, 2019 [Book]
Find out more about ‘The Colour Club’: https://www.thecolourclub.co.uk/
Isaac Newton, ‘Opticks: A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light’, 1704 [Book] https://wellcomecollection.org/works/d445akky/items
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ‘Zur Farbenlehre', 1810 [Book]
George Sharf, ‘Allen's shop in St Martin's Lane [...]’, 1829. Watercolour © The British Museum, London https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1862-0614-119
Roy Osborne, ‘Books on Colour 1495-2015: History and Bibliography’, 2020 [Book]
Cennino Cennini, ‘Il Libro dell’arte’, produced around late 14th century [Book]
Alexandra Loske, ‘Mary Gartside: A female colour theorist in Georgian England’, St Andrews Journal of Art History and Museum Studies, Vol.14, 2010 [Journal article] https://ojs.st-andrews.ac.uk/index.php/nsr/article/download/234/261
Mary Gartside, ‘Essay on Light and Shade’, 1805 [Book] https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1756677/an-essay-on-light-and-book-gartside-mary/
Mary Gartside, ‘An Essay on a New Theory of Colours and on Composition in General’, 1808 [Book] https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1756676/an-essay-on-a-new-book-mary-gartside/
Emily Noyes Vanderpoel, ‘Color Problems: A Practical Manual for the Lay Student of Color’, 1902 [Book] https://archive.org/details/colorproblemspra00vand/page/n1/mode/2up
Caroline van Biema, ‘Farben und Formen als lebendige Kräfte’, 1930 [Book] https://www.staatsgalerie.de/de/sammlung-digital/farben-und-formen-lebendige-kraefte
Bonnie E. Snow and Hugo B. Froehlich, ‘The theory and practice of color’, 1928 [Book]
-------
Episode credits:
Guests: Dr Alexandra Loske and Zeynep Sagir
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver
Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti
Editor: Oli Mason
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
How do the colours artists choose – and the ways each of us experience them – help us find a story?
Join Beks and author Chloë Ashby as they take a closer look at how to ‘read’ colour in some of the National Gallery’s most iconic paintings. From Van Gogh to Caravaggio, they examine how different artists use colour to guide narrative, shape meaning and even evoke emotion.
Whether you’re an art lover or new to art history, uncover hints and tips for how to decode your favourite paintings through colour.
-------
Chloë is an author and award-winning arts critic. She is the author of Wet Paint (2022) and Second Self (2023). Her third novel, ‘Family Friends’, will be published by Penguin Fig Tree in summer 2026. She is also the author of two non-fiction books on art history: ‘Look At This If You Love Great Art (2021)’ and ‘Colours of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes’ (2022).
-------
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iOg5ICy090
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-------
Paintings mentioned:
Édouard Manet, ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’, 1882 © Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) https://gallerycollections.courtauld.ac.uk/object-p-1934-sc-234
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, ‘The Supper at Emmaus’, 1601 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/michelangelo-merisi-da-caravaggio-the-supper-at-emmaus
Diego Velázquez, ‘The Toilet of Venus ('The Rokeby Venus')’, 1647-51 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/diego-velazquez-the-toilet-of-venus-the-rokeby-venus
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, ‘Combing the Hair ('La Coiffure')’, About 1896 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/hilaire-germain-edgar-degas-combing-the-hair-la-coiffure
Vincent van Gogh, ‘Sunflowers’, 1888 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-sunflowers
Peter Paul Rubens, ‘The Judgement of Paris’, Probably 1632-5 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/peter-paul-rubens-the-judgement-of-paris
-------
Further reading:
Chloë Ashby, ‘Colours of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes’, 2022 [Book]
Chloë Ashby, ‘Look at This if You Love Great Art’, 2021 [Book]
Find out more about Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas’s fiery painting ‘Combing the Hair ('La Coiffure')' on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOSllLel-UI
Explore 'The Story of Van Gogh's Yellow Palette' from the National Gallery's Chemistry of Colour YouTube series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdapnts7kIk
Find out more about the restoration of Rubens’s ‘The Judgement of Paris’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiL3z0a9-eo
-------
Episode credits:
Guest: Chloë Ashby
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver
Video Producer: Alessandro Sorenti
Editor: Paul Frankl
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
A teenage chemist’s accidental discovery didn’t just revolutionise colour history – it sparked a viral Victorian colour craze!
Cultural historian Kassia St Clair joins Beks to uncover the story of mauveine – the world’s first synthetic aniline dye. Practically overnight, this striking purple became a mass-market sensation. Mauve reshaped Victorian fashion and left a legacy that stretches all the way from a laboratory in Victorian London’s East End to portraits of icons like Oprah Winfrey.
-------
Kassia is the author of books including 'The Secret Lives of Colour', 'The Golden Thread' and 'Liberty: Design. Pattern. Colour'. She specialises in telling stories about the overlooked and everyday.
-------
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddv3yLM6VeQ
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-------
Paintings mentioned:
Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope, ‘Sir William Henry Perkin’, 1906. © National Portrait Gallery, London https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw04955/Sir-William-Henry-Perkin?_gl=1*n8r8uw*_up*MQ..*_ga*NDE2MjgwNzAxLjE3NzgwNzkyNDc.*_ga_3D53N72CHJ*czE3NzgwNzkyNDYkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzgwNzkyNDYkajYwJGwwJGgw
John Phillip, ‘The Marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal, 25 January 1858’, Signed and dated 1860 © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2026 | Royal Collection Trust https://www.rct.uk/collection/406819/the-marriage-of-victoria-princess-royal-25-january-1858
Claude Monet, ‘Irises’, About 1914-17 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-irises
Shawn Michael Warren, ‘Oprah Winfrey’, 2023 © National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / Courtesy of the artist https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2023.37?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Doprah
-------
Further reading:
Kassia St Clair, ‘The Secret Lives of Colour’, 2016 [Book]
Kassia St Clair, ‘The Secret Lives of Colour: Expanded Edition’, 2025 [Book]
Simon Garfield, ‘Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World’, 2000 [Book]
Find out more about William Henry Perkin here: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/cp37617/william-henry-perkin
Perkin, W. H. ‘On Mauve or Aniline-Purple'. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 13 (1863-1864): 170-176. [Journal article] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspl.1863.0042
Science Museum, ‘The secret origins of purple dye’, 2019 [YouTube video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7JCMxq7DU8
Find out more about ‘The Mauve Measles’ in Punch Magazine, 20 Aug 1859: https://magazine.punch.co.uk/image/I0000tqpCmhDDsLU
Oscar Wilde, ‘The Decay of Lying’, 1891 [Book]
Oscar Wilde, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, 1890 [Book]
Explore 'Monet's Palette in the Twentieth Century: 'Water-Lilies' and 'Irises'’ in the National Gallery's Technical Bulletin, 2007: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/technical-bulletin/roy2007
Find out more about artist Shawn Michael Warren: https://www.shawnmichaelwarren.com/
Find out more about Oprah Winfrey and the colour purple: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/oprah-winfrey-national-portrait-gallery-shawn-michael-warren-commission-180983424/
Watch or listen to our episode of ‘Stories of Colour’ on Tyrian purple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcPMFsafav8
-------
Episode credits:
Guest: Kassia St Clair
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Timothy Carpenter
Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti
Editor: Paul Frankl
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
What makes two volcano-born pigments so dangerous? Hint: they weren’t scorching hot when artists used them. Orpiment and realgar both contain arsenic, a foe we’ve previously faced on ‘Stories in Colour’.
From volcanoes to ancient alchemical practices, art historian Evie Hatch joins Beks to uncover the origins and histories of these orange and yellow pigments. Together, they discuss how orpiment and realgar have been used, where their names come from and the risks artists faced painting with them.
-------
Evie Hatch is an art historian specialising in the history and characteristics of artist pigments. She is the writer and presenter of Jackson's Art Pigment Stories series and author of the 2025 book ‘Pigment Stories: The History of Artists' Colour’.
-------
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXdv6XZoJBE
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-------
Paintings mentioned:
Titian, ‘The Holy Family with a Shepherd’, About 1510 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-the-holy-family-with-a-shepherd
Titian, ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’, 1520-3 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-bacchus-and-ariadne
Jacopo Tintoretto, ‘Christ washing the Feet of the Disciples’, About 1575-80 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jacopo-tintoretto-christ-washing-the-feet-of-the-disciples
Jacopo Tintoretto, ‘The Origin of the Milky Way', About 1575 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jacopo-tintoretto-the-origin-of-the-milky-way
Rachel Ruysch, ‘Flowers in a Vase’, About 1685 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/rachel-ruysch-flowers-in-a-vase
Margarito d’Arezzo, ‘The Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Scenes of the Nativity and the Lives of the Saints’, Probably about 1263-4 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/margarito-d-arezzo-the-virgin-and-child-enthroned-with-narrative-scenes
Abraham Mignon, ‘Still Life with Flowers and a Watch’, About 1660-79 © Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/Still-Life-with-Flowers-and-a-Watch--7404dc80eb5bfc4161ed6ccf454e293f?tab=data
-------
Further reading:
Pliny the Elder, ‘Natural History’ [Book]
Find out more about Plutarch’s version of the tale of King Midas in "On Superstition" from ‘Moralia’, produced about 100 AD [Essay]
Cennino Cennini, ‘Il Libro dell’arte’, produced in late 14th-century [Book]
Find out more about ‘Titian’s Painting Technique before 1540’ in the National Gallery’s Technical Bulletin, 2013: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/media/16259/vol-34-essay-1-2013.pdf
Find out more about the use of orpiment in Margarito d’Arezzo’s ‘The Virgin and Child Enthroned’: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/bAVhk85cvIns0Q
Find out more about research on degrading colours in yellow flowers in 17th-century still life paintings here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9176749/
Listen to our episode from series one of ‘Stories in Colour’ on deadly green pigments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PIn-7FesV8
-------
Additional note: Please note that mentions of the emperor Caius during this episode are in reference to the Roman emperor Gaius Caesar (Caligula). https://www.britannica.com/biography/Caligula-Roman-emperor
-------
Episode credits:
Guest: Evie Hatch
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver
Video Producer: Alessandro Sorenti
Editor: Paul Frankl
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
Travel with us beyond the sea to look at ultramarine, a pigment that was once even more precious than gold.
In this episode, writer Victoria Finlay joins Beks for a discussion on how researching ultramarine took her to Afghanistan. She journeyed to the blue mines where you can find lapis lazuli, the semi-precious stone ultramarine comes from. Along the journey, we pause to look at some of the National Gallery’s paintings – including one noteworthy for its lack of ultramarine...
-------
Victoria has written several books about colour - including 'Colour, Travels through the Paintbox' and 'The Brilliant History of Color in Art' - which involved travelling across the globe to the very places that ancient pigments and dyes came from. Her most recent book is about the hidden histories of fabric.
-------
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lOs0_Yi-G8
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-------
Paintings mentioned:
English or French (?), ‘The Wilton Diptych’, About 1395-9 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/english-or-french-the-wilton-diptych
Michelangelo, ‘The Entombment (or Christ being carried to his Tomb)’, About 1500-1 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/michelangelo-the-entombment-or-christ-being-carried-to-his-tomb
Sassoferrato, ‘The Virgin and Prayer’, 1640-50 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/sassoferrato-the-virgin-in-prayer
Titian, ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’, 1520-3 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-bacchus-and-ariadne
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, ‘The Umbrellas’, About 1881-6 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/pierre-auguste-renoir-the-umbrellas
Claude Monet, ‘Irises’, About 1914-17 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-irises
Paul Cezanne, ‘Hillside in Provence’, About 1890-2 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paul-cezanne-hillside-in-provence
-------
Further reading:
Victoria Finlay, ‘Color: A Natural History of the Palette’, 2002
Victoria Finlay, ‘Colour: Travels through the Paintbox’, 2002
Victoria Finlay, ‘The Brilliant History of Color in Art’, 2014
Victoria Finlay, ‘Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World’, 2021
Cennino Cennini, ‘Il Libro dell'Arte’, produced late 14th-century
Find out more about Ultramarine in our ‘Chemistry of Colour’ YouTube series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EzUlnRtDGM
-------
Episode credits:
Guest: Victoria Finlay
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver
Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti
Editor: Paul Frankl
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
Welcome back to a new series of 'Stories in Colour'. To kick off, we’re tackling one of the topics we received the most questions about − synaesthesia.
Join Beks and this week’s guests, composer Dr Deborah Pritchard and leading expert on synaesthesia Professor Jamie Ward, as they set out to answer questions such as: What is synaesthesia and what might yellow sound like?
We are also joined in the studio by violinist Greta Mutlu and cellist Richard Harwood. They help bring Deborah’s own personal experience of synaesthesia to life through music.
-------
Jamie is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. He is one of the world's leading experts on synaesthesia and is the author of several books, including ‘The Frog Who Croaked Blue: Synesthesia and the Mixing of the Senses’.
Deborah is an award-winning British composer known for her work relating to synaesthesia. She has been performed worldwide by the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and more. She is Associate of The Faculty of Music, Oxford and the Royal Academy of Music and was Visiting Fellow at Keble College, Oxford from 2022-2023.
-------
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tko6NE4po0Y
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-------
Paintings mentioned:
Sassoferrato, ‘The Virgin in Prayer’, 1640-50 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/sassoferrato-the-virgin-in-prayer
Claude Monet, ‘Water-Lilies’, after 1916 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-water-lilies
Edvard Munch, ‘The Scream’, 1893. The National Museum, Oslo https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/collection/object/NG.M.00939
-------
Further reading:
Jamie Ward, ‘The Frog who Croaked Blue: Synesthesia and the Mixing of the Senses’, 2008
Wassily Kandinsky, ‘Concerning the Spiritual in Art’, 1911
Find out more about Deborah Pritchard’s ‘Wall of Water’ and the English String Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l4yX6sZqVw
Find out more about Maggi Hambling’s ‘Walls of Water’ exhibition 2014-15: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/past/maggi-hambling-walls-of-water
Find out more about composer Olivier Messiaen: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olivier-Messiaen
Step into the 'National Gallery Imaginarium': https://imaginarium.nationalgallery.org.uk/
-------
Additional note: The 'National Gallery Imaginarium' digital experience features an introductory poem titled 'The Imaginarium' by poet and novelist Sir Ben Okri.
-------
Episode credits:
Guests: Dr Deborah Pritchard, Professor Jamie Ward
Musicians: Cellist Richard Harwood and Violinist Greta Mutlu
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver
Video Producers: Alessandro Sorenti and Amber Akaunu
Editor: Oli Mason
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
What does colour sound like? Why was mauve the brat green of the Victorian era? And is pink really just for girls?
Welcome back to another series of 'Stories in Colour', the National Gallery's vibrant podcast. Join us on a journey that travels from mines in Afghanistan, to the East End of Victorian London. Hear from curators, scientists, historians and artists, for fresh perspectives and unexpected discoveries.
The first episode of series two is out now on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-
When the artist Louise Nevelson immigrated to America as a child, she was told that ‘the streets... would be paved in gold’. Obviously, they weren’t, but that hasn’t stopped modern artists turning pretty much everything else golden. Even a toilet.
Join National Gallery Courses and Events Programmer Caroline Miller, Associate Curator of Contemporary and Modern Priyesh Mistry and host Beks in the final episode of our sparkling miniseries, where we look to uses of gold in modern and contemporary art. From glistening gold in Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ to an artwork so valuable it has hardly ever been displayed. We explore what gold has meant for contemporary artists and how they have tested the limits of this sparkling colour and material.
Caroline is the Courses and Events Programmer at the Gallery. She develops online and in-person courses that expand access and engagement for the National Gallery’s audiences worldwide.
Priyesh is Associate Curator, Contemporary and Modern at the National Gallery where he works towards an ambitious programme to integrate contemporary art within the context of the museum and its historic collections.
_______
Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3I4VzE_QPI
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
_______
Paintings mentioned:
Joseph Beuys, ‘How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare’, 1965. Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf [Performance art] https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/434.1997.9/
Anselm Kiefer, 'Mein Rhine', 2024. Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg Villa Kast [Exhibition] https://ropac.net/online-exhibitions/171-anselm-kiefer-mein-rhein/
Jan van Eyck, ‘The Arnolfini Portrait’, 1434. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-van-eyck-the-arnolfini-portrait
Anselm Kiefer, 'Field of the Cloth of Gold', 2021. Gagosian, Le Bourget [Exhibition] https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2021/anselm-kiefer-field-of-the-cloth-of-gold/
Anselm Kiefer, ‘Aus Herzen und Hirnen sprießen die Halme der Nacht (From Hearts and Brains the Stalks of Night Are Sprouting)’, 2019-2020. Emulsion, oil, acrylic, shellac, straw, gold leaf, wood, and metal on canvas, 185 ⅛ x 330 ¾ inches (470 x 840 cm) https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2021/anselm-kiefer-field-of-the-cloth-of-gold/
Gustav Klimt, 'Pallas Athene', 1898. Wein Museum, Vienna https://sammlung.wienmuseum.at/en/object/102991-pallas-athene/
Gustav Klimt, 'The Kiss (Lovers)', 1908 (completed 1909). Belvedere Museum, Vienna https://sammlung.belvedere.at/objects/6678/der-kuss-liebespaar
Barkley L. Hendricks, ‘Lawdy Mama’, 1969. Studio Museum in Harlem https://www.studiomuseum.org/artworks/lawdy-mama-2
Barkley L. Hendricks, ‘Father, Son, and...’, 1969. Art Bridges https://artbridgesfoundation.org/artworks/hendricks-father-son-and
Louise Nevelson, ‘Royal Tide II’, 1961–1963. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York https://whitney.org/collection/works/428
Chris Burden, ‘Tower of Power’, 1985. Exhibition: “Chris Burden: Extreme Measures” at New Museum, New York, 2013-14 https://archive.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/1861
Maurizio Cattelan, ‘AMERICA’, 2016. Bowl: 18K Gold; Pipes and flushmeter: gold plated. 72,4 cm x 35,6 cm x 68,6 cm. Exhibition: ‘Maurizio Cattelan: “America”’ at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2016-17 https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/maurizio-cattelan-america
[Episode artwork] Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (Lovers), 1908 (completed 1909). Belvedere Museum, Vienna https://sammlung.belvedere.at/objects/6678/der-kuss-liebespaar
_______
Further reading:
Discover more on gold in the National Gallery’s collection on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diJUaHMnazU https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvb2y26xK6Y6T7IfNAc1jMa_zMoX231MX
Find out more about Angela Davis here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Angela-Davis
Take a closer look at the artist Louise Nevelson and her assemblage art: https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw72654/Louise-Nevelson
Find out more about Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘America’ (2016): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjev7vn4qp0o https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1j8z6r8zl6o
Find out more about artist Marcel Duchamp: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcel-Duchamp
-------
Episode credits:
Guests: Caroline Miller and Priyesh Mistry
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technician: Ian Warren
Video editors: Jeanne Kenyon...
-
When did gold become a colour? In this episode we journey from the majestic mosaics of the Byzantine era to the brilliantly burnished panel paintings of the early Renaissance to answer this very question.
Join Laura Llewellyn, National Gallery Curator of Italian Paintings before 1500, art historian and educator Ben Street and National Gallery host Beks on this sparkling adventure. Together, they delve into the Gallery’s paintings to explore how artists were creating with gold and capturing this glittering metal in paint.
Laura Llewellyn is Curator of Italian Paintings Before 1500 here at the National Gallery. She was also the co-curator of our exhibition ‘Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350'.
Ben Street is an art historian and educator. He is the author of ‘How to Enjoy Art: A Guide for Everyone’ and the award-winning children’s book ‘How to be an Art Rebel’.
_______
Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/gisKAcY-5XA
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
_______
Paintings mentioned:
Masaccio, 'The Virgin and Child', 1426. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/masaccio-the-virgin-and-child
Jacopo di Cione, 'The Crucifixion', about 1369-70. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jacopo-di-cione-the-crucifixion
Bridget Riley, 'Messengers', 2019. The National Gallery, London © 2019 Bridget Riley https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/bridget-riley-messengers
Fra Angelico, 'Fiesole San Domenico Altarpiece', about 1423-4. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/fra-angelico-christ-glorified-in-the-court-of-heaven
Andrea Mantegna, 'The Virgin and Child with the Magdalen and Saint John the Baptist', about 1490-1505. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/andrea-mantegna-the-virgin-and-child-with-saints
Giovanni Bellini, 'The Agony in the Garden', about 1458-60. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/giovanni-bellini-the-agony-in-the-garden
Sandro Botticelli, 'Birth of Venus', around 1485. The Uffizi Gallery, Firenze, Italy https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/birth-of-venus
Sandro Botticelli, 'Saint Francis of Assisi with Angels', about 1475-80. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/sandro-botticelli-saint-francis-of-assisi-with-angels
Titian, 'Bacchus and Ariadne', 1520-3. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-bacchus-and-ariadne
_______
Further reading:
Discover more on gold in the National Gallery’s collection on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diJUaHMnazU https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvb2y26xK6Y6T7IfNAc1jMa_zMoX231MX
Take a closer look at the use of gold in Jacopo di Cione’s 'The Crucifixion': https://artsandculture.google.com/story/4gUB2kjMQI3paA
Find out more about the the National Gallery’s past exhibition ‘Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350' (2025): https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/past/siena-the-rise-of-painting
Find out more about the winter solstice: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/solstices-equinoxes
_______
Episode credits:
Guests: Laura Llewellyn and Ben Street
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver
Video editors: Amber Akaunu and Alessandro Sorenti
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
Welcome back to Stories in Colour! And welcome to the first episode of our new miniseries in which we'll be telling the story of a rare, sparkling and glistening colour – or should we say material?
Join Nelly von Aderkas from the National Gallery’s Scientific department and host Beks as they dive into the ancient origins of gold! From colliding supernovas to the tomb of Tutankhamun and the man with the Midas touch, we will be exploring the materiality of gold, where this precious metal comes from and its symbolism in art and literature.
Nelly is a Specialist Scientist and Organic Analyst at the National Gallery with a background in paintings conservation.
_______
Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z2Xr4O8sqE
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
_______
Paintings mentioned:
Jacopo di Cione, 'The Crucifixion', about 1369-70. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jacopo-di-cione-the-crucifixion
Nicolas Poussin, 'Midas Washing at the Source of the Pactolus', ca. 1627. The Metropolitan Museum of Art https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437328
Jean-François de Troy, 'The Capture of the Golden Fleece', 1742-3. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jean-francois-de-troy-the-capture-of-the-golden-fleece
Nicolas Poussin, 'The Adoration of the Golden Calf', 1633-4. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/nicolas-poussin-the-adoration-of-the-golden-calf
_______
Further reading:
Discover more on gold in the National Gallery’s collection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diJUaHMnazU https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvb2y26xK6Y6T7IfNAc1jMa_zMoX231MX
Find out more about gold in Jacopo di Cione’s 'The Crucifixion': https://artsandculture.google.com/story/4gUB2kjMQI3paA
Find out more about Tutankhamun's Golden Burial Mask: https://gem.eg/en/collection/artefacts/the-golden-burial-mask-of-tutankhamun
Find out more about Tutankhamun's coffins: https://egypt-museum.com/innermost-coffin-of-tutankhamun/
Take a look at Egyptian coffins in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum: https://egyptiancoffins.org/coffin-catalogue
Cennino Cennini, 'Il libro dell'arte', written late 14th century
Kassia St Clair, 'The Secret Lives of Colour', 2016
J.R.R. Tolkein, 'The Hobbit', 1937
Apollonius Rhodius, 'Argonautica', written around 3rd century BC
[Author unknown], 'Beowulf', [date unknown]
Ovid, 'Metamorphoses', composed around 8th century AD
Stephen Fry, 'Troy: The Greek Myths Reimagined', 2021
_______
Episode credits:
Guest: Nelly von Aderkas
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Timothy Carpenter
Video Producer: Jeanne Kenyon
Video Editor: Alessandro Sorenti
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
Welcome to a new miniseries of ‘Stories in Colour’. The National Gallery’s vibrant podcast returns to tell the story of a rare, sparkling and glistening colour – or should we say material?
It's been called the tears of the gods, the sweat of the sun, a barbaric relic and a universal language. Join us as we trace the use of gold across the ages! From the tombs of Ancient Egypt to Renaissance altarpieces, all the way to a currently missing golden toilet.
The first episode in our three-part miniseries releases on Wednesday 19 November 2025. Episodes will release weekly, finishing on 3 December 2025.
-
What exactly is a rainbow and how is it formed? Why does it have seven colours? And what have rainbows symbolised in mythologies and art?
Join colour expert Dr Alexandra Loske, National Gallery Principal Scientist Joseph Padfield and National Gallery host Beks Leary as they cover rainbows from Noah’s Ark to Olafur Eliasson, and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to Georges Seurat’s ‘The Rainbow’ study.
Alexandra is a colour expert, art historian and museum curator. Her exhibition 'Colour: A Chromatic Promenade through the Royal Pavilion' is on display at The Royal Pavilion in Brighton until October 2025. She is also author of 'The Artist's Palette' and 'Colour: A Visual History'.
Joseph is a Principal Scientist at the National Gallery. He brings a wealth of expertise across multiple domains, including data management, digital infrastructure, conservation documentation, digital imaging, web development, preventive conservation, museum lighting, colour science, and the technical examination of paintings.
-----
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XjaFKMexByg
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
To take our short survey about the podcast please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
Paintings mentioned:
Angelica Kauffman RA, ‘Colouring’, 1778-80. Royal Academy of Arts, London © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: John Hammond https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/colour
Jan Van Eyck, ‘The Annunciation’, about 1434/1436. National Gallery of Art, Washington https://www.nga.gov/artworks/46-annunciation
Bartolomé Bermejo, ‘Saint Michael triumphant over the Devil with the Donor Antoni Joan’, 1468. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/bartolome-bermejo-saint-michael-triumphs-over-the-devil
John Constable, ‘Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows’, exhibited 1831. Tate, Purchased by Tate with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Manton Foundation, Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation) and Tate Members in partnership with Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales, Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service, National Galleries of Scotland, and The Salisbury Museum 2013. © Photo: Tate https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-salisbury-cathedral-from-the-meadows-t13896
John Everett Millais, ‘The Blind Girl’, 1856. Birmingham Museums Trust © Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust https://dams.birminghammuseums.org.uk/assetbank-birminghammuseums/action/viewAsset?id=3114&index=22&total=215&view=viewSearchItem
Georges Seurat, ‘The Rainbow: Study for 'Bathers at Asnières'’, 1883. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/georges-seurat-the-rainbow-study-for-bathers-at-asnieres
Further reading:
Alexandra Loske, The Artist's Palette: The Palettes Behind the Paintings of 50 Great Artists, 2024
Alexandra Loske, Colour: A Visual History, 2019
Find out more about the exhibition ‘Colour: A Chromatic Promenade through the Royal Pavilion’ at The Royal Pavilion, Brighton: https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/event/colour/
Raymond L. Lee and Alistair B. Fraser, The Rainbow Bridge: Rainbows in Art, Myth and Science, 2001
Isaac Newton, Opticks: or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light, 1704
Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album cover: http://www.hipgnosiscovers.com/pinkfloyd/darksideofthemoon.html
Cesare Ripa, Iconologia, 1593
Find out more about Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Your Rainbow Panorama’ (2011) at ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, in Denmark: https://www.aros.dk/en/art/the-collection/olafur-eliasson-your-rainbow-panorama-2011/
Find out more about the work of Andy Goldsworthy: https://andygoldsworthystudio.com/
Find out more about Hiroshi Sugimoto’s ‘Opticks’: https://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/polarized-color-1
Find out more about artist and writer David Batchelor: https://www.davidbatchelor.co.uk/works/installations/
Find out more about solar geometry in Constable’s ‘Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows’: https://www.tate.org.uk/research/in-focus/salisbury-cathedral-constable/reassessing-the-rainbow
Thomas Forster, Researches about Atmospheric Phaenomena, [1815]
-----
End credits:
Guests: Dr Alexandra Loske and Joseph Padfield
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver
Editor: Jeanne Kenyon and Paul Frankl
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
Why do we see purple as the colour of royalty? It all starts on the Mediterranean coast with some unassuming, and eventually very unfortunate, seasnails.
Travel back to ancient times with colour specialist Victoria Finlay and National Gallery host Beks Leary to trace the story of Tyrian purple through time.
Victoria has written several books about colour – including 'Colour, Travels through the Paintbox' and 'The Brilliant History of Color in Art' – which involved travelling across the globe to the very places that ancient pigments and dyes came from. Her most recent book is about the hidden histories of fabric.
-----
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kcPMFsafav8
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
To take our short survey about the podcast please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
Paintings mentioned:
Peter Paul Rubens, ‘La Découverte de la Pourpre un phenicien trouve grace a son chien un coquillage produisant la teintre rouge’, about 1636. Musée Bonnat, Bayonne, France © Musée Bonnat, Bayonne, France / Photo Josse/Scala, Florence https://webmuseo.com/ws/musee-bonnat-helleu/app/collection/record/1923
Raphael, ‘The Dream of a Knight’, about 1504. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/raphael-the-dream-of-a-knight
Lorenzo Costa, 'Portrait (supposed to be of Battista Fiera)', 1490-5. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/lorenzo-costa-portrait-supposed-to-be-of-battista-fiera
Master of the Bruges Passion Scenes, 'Christ presented to the People', about 1510. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/master-of-the-bruges-passion-scenes-christ-presented-to-the-people
Further reading:
Victoria Finlay, Color: A Natural History of the Palette, 2002
Victoria Finlay, Colour: Travels through the Paintbox, 2002
Victoria Finlay, The Brilliant History of Color in Art, 2014
Victoria Finlay, Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World, 2021
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, composed around 2nd century AD
Find out more about the Tito Bustillo Cave here: https://www.centrotitobustillo.com/en/cueva-tito-bustillo
Julius Pollox, Onomasticon, composed around 2nd century AD
Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis [Natural History], published around 77 AD
Find out more about the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy: https://www.turismo.ra.it/en/culture-and-history/religious-buildings/basilica-san-vitale/
Silius Italicus, Punica, composed around the late 1st century AD – see Book XV for the passage on Scipio’s choice
Find out more about technical analysis of Raphael’s ‘The Dream of a Knight’ in the National Gallery’s Technical Bulletin: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/technical-bulletin/roy_spring_plazzotta2004
_____
Episode Credits:
Guest: Victoria Finlay
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver
Editor: Jeanne Kenyon
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
Where did all the colour go? And how might Western culture have feared it, or deemed it superficial, in art and philosophy? We celebrate the 25th anniversary of seminal book ‘Chromophobia’ with its author David Batchelor, who reflects on these ideas a quarter of a century on.
David speaks to National Gallery host Beks Leary about ideas of colour from philosopher Plato and artist Paul Cezanne, to the film ‘The Wizard of Oz’, photojournalist Don McCullin and pop artist Andy Warhol. They also ask the pressing question: ‘is beige a passive aggressive colour?’
David Batchelor is an artist and writer based in London, who, for thirty years, has been concerned with our experience of colour within the modern urban environment, and with historical conceptions of colour within Western culture. His work comprises sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, photography and animation.
-----
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bOrd81eklxM
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
To take our short survey about the podcast please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
Artworks mentioned:
Paul Cezanne, ‘Hillside in Provence’, about 1890-2. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paul-cezanne-hillside-in-provence
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, ‘Madame Moitessier’, 1856. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jean-auguste-dominique-ingres-madame-moitessier
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, ‘The Skiff (La Yole)’, 1875. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/pierre-auguste-renoir-the-skiff-la-yole
Claude Monet, ‘The Gare St-Lazare', 1877. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-the-gare-st-lazare
Sir Don McCullin CBE, ‘Shell-shocked US Marine, The Battle of Hue’, 1968, printed 2013. ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mccullin-shell-shocked-us-marine-the-battle-of-hue-ar01201 / https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/130204
English or French (?), ‘The Wilton Diptych’, about 1395-9. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/english-or-french-the-wilton-diptych
Further reading:
David Batchelor, Chromophobia [Book], 2000
Aristotle, Poetics, composed around 4th century BCE
Johann Joachim Winckelmann, History of Ancient Art (Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums) [Book], 1764
Herman Melville, Moby Dick: or, The Whale [Book], 1851
Vidor, King, et al., The Wizard of Oz [Film], 1939
Salman Rushdie, The Wizard of Oz (BFI Film Classics) [Book], 1992
Charles Blanc, Grammaire des arts du dessin: architecture, sculpture, peinture [Book], 1867
Roland Barthes, ‘Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography’ [Book], 1980
Find out more about photojournalist Don McCullin: https://donmccullin.com/
Find out more about Andy Warhol’s prints here: https://warholfoundation.org/warhol/catalogue-raisonne/catalogues-raisonnes-print/ https://www.moma.org/collection/works/portfolios/61240
Additional note:
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’s ‘Madame Moitessier’ features a Japanese Imari vase.
_______
Episode Credits:
Guest: David Batchelor
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver
Editor: Jeanne Kenyon
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
Why does the colour green remind you of poison and radioactivity? We're telling the story of two toxic green pigments to find out. Their stories interact with artists like Berthe Morisot, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris, as well as the less likely figure of Napoleon Bonaparte. And we go for a very good nosy around Victorian libraries.
Join cultural historian Kassia St Clair and National Gallery host Beks Leary to ask just how deadly these historic pigments really are!
Kassia is the author of books including 'The Secret Lives of Colour', 'The Golden Thread' and 'Liberty: Design. Pattern. Colour'. She specialises in telling stories about the overlooked and every day.
-----
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9PIn-7FesV8
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
To take our short survey about the podcast please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
Paintings mentioned:
Camille Pissarro, ‘The Côte des Bœufs at L'Hermitage’, 1877. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/camille-pissarro-the-cote-des-boeufs-at-l-hermitage
Edouard Manet, ‘Music in the Tuileries Gardens’, 1862. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/edouard-manet-music-in-the-tuileries-gardens
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, ‘Veronica Veronese’, 1872. The Delaware Art Museum © Delaware Art Museum / Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial / Bridgeman Images https://emuseum.delart.org/objects/321/veronica-veronese
Berthe Morisot, ‘Summer’s Day’, about 1879. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/berthe-morisot-summer-s-day
Further reading:
Kassia St Clair, The Secret Lives of Colour, 2016
David Bomford, Jo kirby, John Leighton and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Impressionism, 1990
William Morris and Norman Kelvin, The Collected Letters of William Morris, 1984
To see ‘The Arsenic Waltz’ wood engraving, dated to 8 February 1862, from Punch or the London Charivari, visit the Wellcome Collection’s online catalogue: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/awbr7whm/images?id=ascfupfg
Lucinda Hawksley, Bitten by Witch Fever: Wallpaper & Arsenic in the Victorian Home, 2016
Robert Clark Kedzie, Shadows from the walls of death: facts and inferences prefacing a book of specimens of arsenical wall papers, 1874 https://archive.org/details/0234555.nlm.nih.gov/page/n191/mode/2up
Find out more about the ‘Poison Book Project’ – an interdisciplinary research initiative at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and the University of Delaware: https://sites.udel.edu/poisonbookproject/
-----
Episode Credits:
Guest: Kassia St Clair
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Timothy Carpenter
Editor: Jeanne Kenyon and Paul Frankl
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
We're asking how we feel about colour – or more accurately how colours make us feel – and whether that's the same for all of us.
Join colour specialist Zeynep Sagir and National Gallery host Beks Leary to get emotional about colour. Along the way, we talk about Pablo Picasso’s ‘Blue Period’ and Derek Jarman’s final film ‘Blue’, the calming green of John Constable’s ‘The Cornfield’, and Mark Rothko’s colour field abstractions. And we’ll see just how cultural our perception of colour really is.
Zeynep is an artist, colour consultant, and founder of The Colour Club. She holds a Master’s degree from Central Saint Martins and spent two years researching colour psychology. Since graduating, she has gone on to become a certified colour consultant and colour therapist. Through The Colour Club, Zeynep runs workshops, hosts events, and offers consultancy, as well as publishing articles and interviews.
Find out more about The Colour Club on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecolourclub/
-----
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CN0KgUJtjJA
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
To take our short survey about the podcast please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
Paintings mentioned:
John Constable, ‘The Cornfield’, 1826. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/john-constable-the-cornfield
Derek Jarman, ‘Blue’, 1993. Tate https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/jarman-blue-t14555
Vincent van Gogh, ‘Van Gogh’s Chair’, 1888. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-van-gogh-s-chair
Vincent van Gogh, ‘Gauguin's Chair’, 1888. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0048V1962
Further reading:
Find out more about The Colour Club here: https://www.thecolourclub.co.uk/
Josef Albers, Interaction of Color, 1963
To find out more about research conducted during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens on how ‘Red enhances human performance in contests’ see: https://www.nature.com/articles/435293a
Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, [1911]
Read the full letter from Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo, dated on or about Wednesday, 28 October 1885: https://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let537/letter.html
Discover more about Vincent van Gogh’s letters: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/art-and-stories/stories/all-stories/van-goghs-letters
Find out more about colour field painting and abstract expressionist artists, such as Mark Rothko, here: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/colour-field-painting
-----
Episode Credits
Guest: Zeynep Sagir
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Timothy Carpenter
Editor: Jeanne Kenyon and Paul Frankl
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
We're on the search for the 'perfect red' with a pigment and dye that was so prized that it inspired international espionage and piracy, carried the death penalty if exported without a license, and built empires. But today you might find it in your strawberry yoghurt.
This is the story of how bugs turned the world red with historian and writer Amy Butler Greenfield and National Gallery host Beks Leary.
Amy is the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of dyers, and her award-winning history of cochineal, 'A Perfect Red', has been published in eight languages. A popular speaker on radio and television programs, Amy was born in Philadelphia, studied history at Oxford, and now lives with her family in Oxfordshire.
-----
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Z2jEf3QH_ho
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
Paintings mentioned:
Workshop of Albrecht Dürer with Hans Baldung Grien, ‘The Virgin and Child ('The Madonna with the Iris')’, about 1500-10. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/workshop-of-albrecht-durer-with-hans-baldung-grien-the-virgin-and-child-the-madonna-with-the-iris
Titian, ‘The Holy Family with a Shepherd’, about 1510. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-the-holy-family-with-a-shepherd
Titian, 'Diana and Callisto’, 1556-9. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-diana-and-callisto
Further reading:
Amy Butler Greenfield, ‘A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire’, 2005
For more information on ‘The Virgin and Child ('The Madonna with the Iris')’ by Workshop of Albrecht Dürer with Hans Baldung Grien, please see the following volumes of the National Gallery’s Technical Bulletin:
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/research-resources/technical-bulletin/technical-bulletin-volume-21
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/research-resources/technical-bulletin/the-technology-of-red-lake-pigment-manufacture-study-of-the-dyestuff-substrate
For more information on ‘Titian’s painting techniques before 1540’ see the National Gallery’s Technical Bulletin Volume 34, 2013: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/technical-bulletin/vol-34-essay-1-2013
Find out more about the work of artist Elena Osterwalder: https://elenaosterwalder-atelier.com/
Find out more about artist Bosco Sodi: https://www.kasmingallery.com/artists/96-bosco-sodi/
Find out more about red lake pigments in paintings from the National Gallery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B8u2f799KM&list=PLvb2y26xK6Y4V3T1xHphum23El4b93YzC&index=10
To learn more about the science of colour visit our National Gallery YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvb2y26xK6Y4V3T1xHphum23El4b93YzC
-----
Episode credits:
Guest: Amy Butler Greenfield
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren, Tom Gulliver and Timothy Carpenter
Editors: Jeanne Kenyon, Alessandro Sorenti and Paul Frankl
Theme music: Theo Elwell
-
Meet an enigmatic pigment discovered entirely by accident at the start of the 18th century. Its story involves a rogue inventor with an unlikely connection to Doctor Frankenstein, a characterful trio of Johanns, and a renowned Botticelli forgery.
This pigment came to be known as Prussian blue or Berlin blue. Before its discovery, a range of blue pigments existed but each had a significant flaw: natural ultramarine was prohibitively expensive, smalt discoloured, azurite turned green and indigo faded.
Join colour specialist Evie Hatch and National Gallery host Beks Leary for a conversation about the pigment most famously seen in the blue revolution of Japanese woodblock printing, which inspired the Impressionists, as well as in earlier Rococo painting.
Evie Hatch is an art historian specialising in the history and characteristics of artist pigments. She is the writer and presenter of Jackson's Art Pigment Stories series.
-----
Watch the full episode on YouTube: youtu.be/WK1GSvP6VYs
You can email us with any questions via [email protected].uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
-----
Paintings mentioned:
Paolo Veronese’s Four Allegories of Love series, about 1575: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/search-the-collection?q=Four+Allegories+of+Love&tpf=&tpt=&acf=&act=
Probably by Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, A Girl with a Kitten, 1743. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/probably-by-jean-baptiste-perronneau-a-girl-with-a-kitten
Katsushika Hokusai, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei), about 1830-32. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45434
Claude Monet, Impression, Soleil Levant, 1872. Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris https://www.marmottan.fr/en/notice/4014/
Claude Monet, Bathers at La Grenouillère, 1869. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-bathers-at-la-grenouillere
Umberto Giunti, Forgery in the manner of Sandro Botticelli, Virgin and Child, about 1920-29. The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) Photo © The Courtauld/Bridgeman Images https://gallerycollections.courtauld.ac.uk/object-p-1947-lf-40
Further reading:
Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, 2005
Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Miscellanea berolinensia ad incrementum scientiarum, 1710
For more information on Paolo Veronese’s use of the pigment smalt in the ‘Four Allegories of Love’ series, see the National Gallery’s Technical Bulletin Volume 17, 1996: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/technical-bulletin/penny_roy_spring1996
Jackson’s article on Prussian Blue ‘The History of Prussian Blue (and why you won’t find it in most acrylic ranges)’ by Evie Hatch, 2022: https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2022/10/07/the-history-of-prussian-blue/
Watch videos about the science of colour, including ultramarine blue, on the National Gallery YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvb2y26xK6Y4V3T1xHphum23El4b93YzC
Additional information:
*Note – Prussia was officially dissolved by the Allied Control Council of occupied Germany on 25 February 1947
-----
Episode credits:
Guest: Evie Hatch
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren, Jon Sheldon, Ash Baker, Steven Pasquale, Tom Gulliver and Timothy Carpenter
Editors: Jeanne Kenyon and Amber Akaunu
Theme music: Theo Elwell
- Visa fler
