The study of the artworks of the Old Masters has long been the prerogative of art historians alone. Expertise and other art-historical methods can now make much greater use than ever before of the findings of the so-called exact sciences. These make it possible to acquire new knowledge about works of art of the past that is not obvious to our eyes. Imaging and instrumental methods for the study of works of art often allow us to literally “look into the painting”, below the surface of what we see, and observe the work in different areas of the invisible spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, for example. By using various research methods – with the necessary caution and awareness of their limitations – it is often possible to gain insight into the hypothetical process of the creation of the work and into the painting’s layers. It is possible to characterize the material nature or technological processes or to study the author’s changes and later interventions in the work. Various research methods allow us to see artworks from different perspectives and to study them figuratively speaking “in new colours”, often the colours in which they appear to our eyes using a variety of imaging methods. How an art historian can work with technological knowledge and to what extent he can rely on it at all is demonstrated and addressed in a total of seven case studies dealing with hanging paintings by Old Masters from the collections of the Archbishopric of Olomouc and the Olomouc Museum of Art.

An experimental approach to the study and teaching of color is comprised of exercises in seeing color action and feeling color relatedness before arriving at color theory.

This origin story of history’s most vivid color pigments is perfect for artists, history buffs, science lovers, and design fanatics. Did you know that the Egyptians created the first synthetic color and used it to create the famous blue crown of Queen Nefertiti? Or that the noblest purple comes from a predatory sea snail? In the Roman Empire, hundreds of thousands of snails had to be sacrificed to produce a single ounce of dye. Throughout history, pigments have been made from deadly metals, poisonous minerals, urine, cow dung, and even crushed insects. From grinding down beetles and burning animal bones to alchemy and pure luck, Chromatopia reveals the origin stories behind over fifty of history’s most vivid color pigments. Featuring informative and detailed color histories, a section on working with monochromatic color, and “recipes” for paint-making, Chromatopia provides color enthusiasts with an eclectic story of how synthetic colors came to be. Red lead, for example, was invented by the ancient Greeks by roasting white lead, and it became the dominant red in medieval painting. Spanning from the ancient world to modern leaps in technology, and vibrantly illustrated throughout, this book will add a little chroma to anyone’s understanding of the history of colors.

The art of portraiture approached its apex during the sixteenth century in Europe with the discovery of oil painting when the old masters developed and refined techniques that remain unsurpassed to this day. The ascendance of nonrepresentational art in the middle of the twentieth century displaced these venerable skills, especially in academic art circles. Fortunately for aspiring artists today who wish to learn the methods that allowed the Old Masters to achieve the luminous color and subtle tonalities so characteristic of their work, this knowledge has been preserved in hundreds of small traditional painting ateliers that persevered in the old ways in this country and throughout the world. Coming out of this dedicated movement, Portrait Painting Atelier is an essential resource for an art community still recovering from a time when solid instruction in art technique was unavailable in our schools. Of particular value here is a demonstration of the Old Masters’ technique of layering paint over a toned-ground surface, a process that builds from the transparent dark areas to the more densely painted lights. This method unifies the entire painting, creating a beautiful glow that illuminates skin tones and softly blends all the color tones. Readers will also find valuable instruction in paint mediums from classic oil-based to alkyd-based, the interactive principles of composition and photograph-based composition, and the anatomy of the human face and the key relationships among its features. Richly illustrated with the work of preeminent masters such as Millet, Géricault, and van Gogh, as well as some of today’s leading portrait artists—and featuring seven detailed step-by-step portrait demonstrations—Portrait Painting Atelier is the first book in many years to so comprehensively cover the concepts and techniques of traditional portraiture.

"The papers in this volume were presented at the Icon Publishing Group conference 'Appearance and Reality: Examining Colour Change in Paintings' which attempted to present an overview of the current state of research related to colour change in paintings, ranging from Old Masters to modern art. The contributors addressed not only analytical investigation into changes in painting materials, but also methods of assessing colour change, lighting paintings, alternative methods of display, and different approaches to the restoration of paintings whose colour and tonality have shifted."--Page 4 of cover.

This study analyzes the impact of color-making technologies on the visual culture of nineteenth-century France, from the early commercialization of synthetic dyes to the Lumière brothers’ perfection of the autochrome color photography process. Focusing on Impressionist art, Laura Anne Kalba examines the importance of dyes produced in the second half of the nineteenth century to the vision of artists such as Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet. The proliferation of vibrant new colors in France during this time challenged popular understandings of realism, abstraction, and fantasy in the realms of fine art and popular culture. More than simply adding a touch of spectacle to everyday life, Kalba shows, these bright, varied colors came to define the development of a consumer culture increasingly based on the sensual appeal of color. Impressionism—emerging at a time when inexpensively produced color functioned as one of the principal means by and through which people understood modes of visual perception and signification—mirrored and mediated this change, shaping the ways in which people made sense of both modern life and modern art. Demonstrating the central importance of color history and technologies to the study of visuality, Color in the Age of Impressionism adds a dynamic new layer to our understanding of visual and material culture.

From Egyptian wall paintings to the Venetian Renaissance, impressionism to digital images, Philip Ball tells the fascinating story of how art, chemistry, and technology have interacted throughout the ages to render the gorgeous hues we admire on our walls and in our museums. Finalist for the 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award.

Using paintings and sketches created over the years of her life as an artist, Van Wyk provides all the instruction and examples oil painters need to understand the effect of background on color; the seven components of pictorial expression; how to paint glass, eyes and expressions; and so much more.