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]

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]

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

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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 and Alessandro Sorenti

Theme music: Theo Elwell