Exploring the extraordinarily rich array of colours employed by artists from the Middle Ages to the end of the 19th century, the new temporary exhibition, ‘Making Colour’, at the National Gallery introduces some of the techniques and processes associated with their use and identification.
Bringing together the worlds of art and science to explain how artists overcame the technical challenges involved in creating colour, the multimedia guide produced by Antenna features excerpts of interviews with National Gallery curators Caroline Campbell and Ashok Roy. Further expert insight into the works on display is given through a short interview with artist Roger Hiorns, talking about his installation, ‘Seizure’, created in 2011.
The exhibition is arranged around individual colours and in the guide visitors will find a colour palette for each room, listing the pigments and minerals used to create that specific tone. It talks about their history and origins, lists their characteristics and shows pictures of how they look like prior to their use on paintings. In addition, the guide contains two short videos from the National Gallery scientific department, which show how paint samples are extracted from paintings and how colour pigments can help to date paintings.
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