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Stories in ColourThe secret histories of how colour has changed the world. Author: The National Gallery
These are the stories of how colour has changed the world. 'Stories in Colour is a vibrant new podcast from the National Gallery in London. In each episode, we uncover the hidden mysteries woven into colour from antiquity to the present day. Along the way, you'll hear from curators, scientists, historians, artists, and more experts, looking at humanitys efforts to make colour and make meaning with it. And amongst these stories, you will see - and hear - the National Gallerys paintings in a whole new spectrum of light. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast Language: en Genres: Arts, Society & Culture, Visual Arts Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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The first modern synthetic pigment
Episode 2
Tuesday, 27 May, 2025
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/WK1GSvP6VYsYou can email us with any questions via podcast@nationalgallery.org.ukFind 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
