Colour

A Closer Look is the new series title for the updated and refreshed National Gallery Pocket Guide range. The series has been enhanced with a stronger format, attractive design, new photography, and additional information.

It is self-evident that colour is fundamental to painting, but it is not always obvious from looking at pictures what kinds of materials may be used by an artist to make colour. This Pocket Guide explains how coloured pigments are combined with a medium to form a paint layer, and how this affects our perception of the appearance of colour. It not only describes the materials of colour but also explains colour theories and examines writings about colour, including painters’ treatises.

Through a selection of superb pictures from the National Gallery, London, including works by Piero della Francesca, Leonardo, Titian, Caravaggio, Canaletto, Rembrandt, Velázquez, Monet, and Seurat, the authors demonstrate how painters through the centuries have exploited the characteristics of colour in paint.

Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press

David Bomford is Associate Director for Collections at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. He was formerly the Senior Restorer at the National Gallery, London. Ashok Roy is Director of Scientific Research at the National Gallery, London. He is the series editor of the highly regarded National Gallery Technical Bulletin, and has co-authored many NG titles, including Art in the Making: Degas (2005).