Paint in the Picture: Artists and Colour

Artists have frequently depicted themselves with the tools of their trade or in the physical context in which they work, especially – but not always – in self-portraits. In this lecture Loske will look at the significance of artists’ materials, their painting locations and how these are represented in art. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the discovery of new pigments as well as a surge in scientific and philosophical writing about colour and colour theory changed attitudes to colour use in art and interior design dramatically. Beginning with Newton’s Opticks (1704) Loske will examine how scholars, artists, scientists and ‘colourmen’ thought and wrote about colour in this period. Dr Alexandra Loske is an art historian, editor and curator at the University of Sussex/Royal Pavilion, Brighton. She has curated exhibitions including Regency Colour and Beyond 1785 – 1845 (2014) at the Royal Pavilion, followed in 2015 by Exotic Creatures. She is currently writing a book on the history (and beauty) of colour diagrams, forthcoming Oct 2017.