From the Dutch Golden Age onwards, they’ve become fashionable for a while. Examples from Whistler, Turner, Kuindzhi, van Gogh, and others.
Whistler
When to paint looking into the rising or setting sun, or when to put your back to the sun to show its light cast on a mountain peak.
Paintings by JMW Turner, Clarkson Stanfield, William Dyce, John Brett, Whistler, Berthe Morisot and others.
From the burning brands and oil lamps of the Greeks and Romans, to the soft light of candles, then in the 19th century came gaslights.
A river cruise starting with JMW Turner at Maidenhead in the Berkshire countryside, and ending with Whistler at Battersea Bridge.
Paintings from Watteauto George Bellows showing this popular fashion accessory, sometimes used for surreptitious communication between lovers.
Grisaille – grey underpainting used to set the tone for a finished work – is like underwear, waiting for richly coloured clothes to go on top. Not in these paintings, though.
A grisaille turned into a trompe l’oeil, symphonies in white, making the transition to oil paints, an exercise for pupils, and vibrant primary colours.
As a primary colour, blue is essential in painting. The quest for the right blues has spanned the world and resulted in a succession of synthetic pigments which have influenced art.
List of all the artists and subjects covered in this series, with brief summary of each artist, sample painting, and links.