A Closer Look: Colour

Colour is so fundamental a part of paintings that we tend to take it for granted. We rarely think about the materials that make up colour, and how the artists manipulate these. A Closer Look: Colour explores how painters apply colour, describes different types of pigments, and outlines major optical theories and artists’ treatises. The authors explain the effect on colour of the painter’s chosen medium, such as oil, water or egg tempera, and the dramatic effect of new pigments. All are vividly illustrated by detailed studies of paintings from the National Gallery Collection, from van Eyek to Seurat. A Closer Look: Colour is one of the eleven books in the A Closer Look series. 

David Bomford is Head of European Art and Chairman of Conservation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Huston and Ashok Roy was Director of Science at the National Gallery and editor of the National Gallery Technical Bulletin. 

• Paperback edition printed in 2009.
• Includes coloured illustrations. 
• Dimensions: 21cm x 15cm.