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At the crossroad of intuition and science, colour has been the subject of many artistic debates. This course is an in-depth study at what colour is, how it works, and how it has been used by artists to achieve specific effects.

The fascinating history of some pigments (ultramarine and carmine, for instance) will give us an insight into artists’ materials. While some pigments are lightfast and highly valued, others are fading quickly, dramatically altering the paintings in which they have been used.

Because of the transitory nature of colours, and because colour seems to resist rational understanding, Western classical thinkers tended to qualify it as secondary and superficial. Modern artists, however, gave a new importance to colour. Many of them, from Turner and Delacroix, to Van Gogh, Matisse and the Delaunays, made extensive use of a brand-new field of knowledge: colour theory.

Finally, we will approach the subject from the angle of symbolism. From antiquity to modern art, we will examine how colours have been used to convey meaning in a work of art.