Used by Joseph Wright of Derby to symbolise knowledge coming from darkness, by Henry Fuseli for the mysterious even supernatural, and Millet and van Gogh for poverty.
van Gogh
Landscapes generally without stories attached. Among them two scenes of early caravanning, a sower, and back to the railway.
In these years, he painted peaceful rural scenes, without the social narratives which had featured in his earlier work.
From Arcimboldo’s vegetable portrait to the height of Impressionism with Monet and Pissarro, some of the finest paintings of the season.
Transformation in the late 19th century, shown in paintings by van Gogh, John Singer Sargent, and others.
Slow to be taken up, as they were so expensive and Chrome Yellow almost as good, they then came to dominate palettes, until their sudden fall from favour.
Two pigments: straight Chromium Oxide, which is rather dull, and the more intense Viridian. Paintings by Böcklin, Renoir, Manet, Monet, Seurat, van Gogh, and Cézanne.
One of the earliest synthetic pigments, it was widely used throughout Europe, India, and Asia. But like lead white, it is seriously toxic.
The most famous of all, with its origins in Afghanistan, the most precious and beautiful pigment. But it has caught out some of the best forgers too.
For once the name is accurate: it originated in the Prussian Empire around 1704, and by 1730 had established itself as a standard if not entirely reliable pigment. Watteau, Canaletto, Hogarth, Blake, Monet, and van Gogh all used it.
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