Color History
The colors of art, science, trends, nature, interiors, beauty, design, and pop culture from past to present, today and beyond
14 harmful hues 40 the yummiest color 56 BANG! POW! THWOP! 92 birds of a feather 86 snail goo 88 the birth of THE blue pigment timeline poster
IN THIS ISSUE
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Color History
The Deadliest Swatch: Poisonous Pigments of the Past
Humans have a long history of using toxic pigments to color their paintings, decorations, clothing, and body Over and Umber: the Paints Used on Ancient Cave Ceilings
For tens of thousands of years, man has been chronicling his life and leaving his mark with natural pigments close at hand semper augustus: THE CULTIVATED PALETTE OF A HORTICULTURALIST
Botanists and horticulturalists have developed an arsenal of techniques for breeding beautiful plant specimens
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mapping the most popular room colors to current events
The greens at Mount Vernon, rococo pastels of Versailles, Moroccan ultramarine blue, and Scandi (millenial) pink WHY the Spectrum and Color Wheel have Changed over Time
Color models and theories from scientists like Newton and Goethe to modern day bloggers and Instagram influencers 10,000 snails: the glamourous but gross tyrian purple
A favorite of Cleopatra, a sacred blue stripe, a curiosity to Hercules’ dog, and a stench that blanketed a nation
Foldout Feature: Pigment Timeline Remove and unfurl the centerfold to trace the development and usage of one hundred pigments across human history. The chronology of colors moves from the first known ochre usage in Zambia 350,000 years ago to colorants invented in modern labs.
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6 letter from the editor 7 COLOR HISTORY reading list 12 this quarter’s color trends 24
car colors, then and now
30 a survey of ORANGE: unusual usageS of THE WARMEST COLOR 32 backstage pass to the forbes pigment collection at harvard 40 The development of colorants USED in cakes and candies 48 PRIMARY COLORS AND MODERN ART: MONDRIAN , CALDER, AND newman 49 LIPSTICK SHADES, YEAR BY YEAR 56 WHY THE HULK IS GREEN AND PURPLE: THE COLORS OF COMIC BOOKS 60 ITTEN AND ALBERS: CLASSIC STUDIES IN COLOR INTERACTION 66 darwin’s companion: Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours 76 the signature colors of ten european cities 88 where does blue come from and why did it take so long to arrive 92 flamboyant feathers: how evolution impacts plumage color 108 e very shade of green can be seen at kew gardens 126 t he bedroom at arles was actually violet: how van gogh’s paintings have transformed
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from the editor JOIN US ON INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & pinterest
winter 2020
Greetings, and welcome to the Winter edition of Chromaculture Magazine. This quarter we are covering color history, looking back but with an eye for how the past continues to influence us today. We’ll discuss the old and new: ancient pigments, contemporary interior design swatches, cosmetics through the ages, and explore a haunting collection of toxic tints. Personally, when I think of color history, my mind immediately goes to my watercolor palette. There, I have little squares of hematite, the same red ochre used by neanderthals in Iberia 64,000 years ago, benzimida yellow, a bright primary yellow much safer and more permanent than many, and pinkcolor, a mauve borrowed from the potter’s studio. A pan of ultramarine blue sits beside one of genuine lapis lazuli, the former an affordable replacement for the hallowed hue that costs over a hundred times more. Quinacridone gold is made of a pigment that went extinct when it was no longer a popular color for automobile paint, and thus didn’t have enough of a market to justify its production. Dragon’s blood, a medieval red said to be made from the carnage after an epic dragon and elephant battle is a neighbor to perylene maroon, a newer wine-red that is a lightfast alternative to alizarin crimson. In my paint box, ancient earths and miracles of modern science mix to create new colors. As I peruse antique stores, I keep an eye out for the art supplies of yesteryear. Often a decades-old paint tube can still squeeze out a workable color. And while I wouldn’t use a mystery pigment for museum-quality work that needs to stand the test of time, I love to test them out in a sketchbook where light and air are less of a factor. I hope you find a compelling way to time travel with color.
Amanda Hinton Editor-in-Chief
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the editors’ bookshelves
These eight books—four on general color topics and four about specific hues—have inspired many of our conversations around the water cooler and the coffeemaker. The Chromaculture editors have declared these color history must-reads. Chromatopia: An Illustrated History of Color David Coles
Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours Patrick Sym
olor ly c o t t go- recen ian: s ’ win w a s son Da r dbook y Sm ithg e 66. han ved b on pa revi n more le ar
A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire Amy Butler Greenfield
One in a se e ri s about differe of books nt colors!
Color: A Visual History from Newton to Modern Color Matching Guides Alexandra Loske
the o t l in ave ents, r t air f pigm ed by h c Ar m tor y o sly lov his n imou ead it. una who r all Color: A Natural History of the Palette Victoria Finlay
The Rarest Blue: The Remarkable Story of an Ancient Color Lost to History and Rediscovered Baruch Sterman
is v e r y h t t u o b a Read blue/violet in precious on Tyrian our ar ticle e 86. ag purple on p
Green: The History of a Color
Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color
Michel Pastoureau
Valerie Steele ChromAculture winter 2020
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The
Deadliest Swatch Poisonous Pigments of the Past Humans have a long history of using toxic pigments to color their paintings, decorations, clothing, and body. Emerald green, a bright saturated green went out of fashion after we realized that arsenic poisoning wasn’t worth the beauty of the hue, but not before Napoleon was poisoned to death by his green walls. Learn about eight murderous pigments that are now obsolete.
Like sirens for sailors, colors have coaxed people to their demise with their beauty. Across the spectrum, you can find colors, once popular and now fairly obsolete, that are full of arsenic, cyanide, mercury, lead, and other heavy metals. We’ve used
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By Amanda Hinton Photography by Michael D Beckwith ChromAculture winter 2020
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them to whiten our faces, dye exquisite ball gowns, create sumptuous wallpaper, and paint masterpieces. Some colors stayed in use after there were non-toxic substitutes, while others were dropped the moment a reasonable alternative was found. ORPIMENT and realgar
first synthetic pigments to be developed and was widely used until it was determined to be toxic if ingested or inhaled. It can stilll be found on careful artists’ palettes, particularly oil painters’ who decry the less natural-looking titanium white and adore lead white’s silky smooth texture, despite the fact that it darkens over time.
Orpiment (PY39), also called king’s yellow, comes from a beautiful golden-hued crystal harvested chrome yellow from hot springs or volcanic veins. When powChrome yellow (PY34) is the bright color of the dered, the mineral produces a yellow-orange American schoolbus, which were unfortunately pigment ranging from pale painted with a distinctive lemon to canary to amber. pigment produced from two Orpiment’s danger comes toxic ingredients: chromate, To conform with US law, from its mix of sulfur and a carcinogen, alongside lead, all manufacturers of art arsenic. Even touching the which we know should not materials must have their raw mineral is harmful, but be used near children. Due products tested by a certified respirating its fine particles to its heavy metal content toxicologist. Look for labels can be deadly. and that it darkens upon that spell out compliance exposure to UV, chrome with FHSA, LHAMA, and yellow is mostly obsolete, Realgar (PY39) is a related ASTM D-4326 regulations. though the more stable arsenic-laced mineral, which Responsible paint producers modern version (same name) can even be found in the will label their products with is still used by some artists. same matrix with orpiment. the pigment identity and The main difference, is that list any potential acute and realgar crystals produce a gamboge chronic health effects related red or orange-red pigment. Gamboge, rattan yellow, or to use of the paint. Before people understood the very-fun-to-say gummi its toxicity, the ruby-looking gutta (NY24), is a mustardy stone was traded far and wide as a decorative and yellow pigment made of the sap from an evergreen cosmetic colorant, as well as a medicine. tree found in India and throughout south Asia. It was used to dye monks’ robes and is found in the paintings of Turner, and Rembrandt. Aside from lead white its color properties, it was also touted as a cure-all Lead white (PW1) was long favored by painters, by unscrupulous doctors. of the artistic and utilitarian variety, because of its purity and opacity. Many women, including Gamboge fell out of fashion because it is not lightQueen Elizabeth, used Venetian ceruse to make fast, is time-consuming to produce, is fatal with porcelain-colored skin. Because lead white has a significant exposure, and has a powerful laxative slight sweet taste, babies liked to gnaw on their effect in small amounts. More often today, artists white crib bars or kids would taste-test the flakes paint with “gamboge hue” a mixture of synthetic, from peeling walls. Lead white is banned in most less harmful, pigments that replicate the lovely countries (and its prior use is usually disclosed and useful saffronesque color. on legal documents). Lead white was one of the
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scheele’s GREEN AND EMERALD green
Scheele’s green (PG21), aka Schloss green, was a brilliant green pigment discovered in 1775, that was used to color rooms, decorate kids’ toys, and dye fabrics, all with fatal consequence. Scheele’s green pigment is a chemical compound of arsenic and copper. It is speculated that Napoleon was killed by his walls, evidenced by their color and the high levels of arsenic found in his body. It is a cousin pigment to emerald green and Paris green, which are also poisonous colors that contained arsenic. Though emerald green was used to kill insects and rodents, it was too beautiful to be relegated to such nasty work. Paris green was favored by Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters including Cezanne, Monet, and van Gogh. vermilion
Vermilion, also known as minium, is an opaque, scarlet red pigment (PR106) made from grinding cinnabar, a mineral high in mercury and sulphur. It was found in use in Turkey as early as 8000 BC, and most modern sources are from China. Ancient heros decorated their bodies with the red pigment just as artists had painted sculptures of the gods with it. Chinese red, used for lacquerware and the distinctive ink for chop signatures, was made with cinnabar. It was popular during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Because of its tendency to darken over time from oxidation and high toxicity, cadmium red was a welcome replacement pigment.
The list in the right sidebar is an incomplete compilation of pigments with adverse health effects. Some are obsolete, but many are still used today and can indeed be used safely with appropriate (and careful) handling. Many pigments go by multiple names; for example, orpiment is also known as king’s yellow and scheele’s, paris, arsenic, emerald, and rat poison green are all related.
Lead white antimony white witherite lithopone barium white vermilion lithol red cadmium red chrome orange cadmium orange uranium orange realgar orpiment gamboge cadmium yellow barium yellow naples yellow chrome yellow uranium yellow cobalt yellow zinc yellow nickel azo yellow radium green chrome green cobalt green scheele’s green paris green cobalt blue manganese blue prussian blue antwerp blue cobalt violet manganese violet carbon black lamp black antimony black ChromAculture winter 2020
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A Survey of Orange Unusual Usages of the Warmest Color Flaming June, a 1984 painting by Frederik Lord Layton, is notable for its extensive use of chrome orange. Here, we examine six paintings known for their exceptional handling of this hue.
Robert Ryman, an American painter associated with minimalism and abstraction, often creates work centered around one color. His first professional artwork, created in 1955 and on display at the Museum of Modern Art, was a pigment study focused on the color orange. Though flecked with
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By Amanda Hinton ChromAculture winter 2020
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By Amanda Hinton Photography by Aaron Burden
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Semper Augustus The Cultivated Palette of a Horticulturalist During the tulip mania of the 1600s, a single Semper Augustus tulip bulb was as valuable as 12 acres of land. Prized for its “broken color�, the white and red variegated petals were created by infecting the plant with a virus. Since, botanists and horticulturalists have developed an arsenal of techniques for engineering beautiful plant specimens.
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