What’s the most expensive color?
Prior to the 19th Century, Lapis Lazuli blue was a very rare color in the art world. And still today it’s not used often—instead modern painters might use an ultramarine—because Lapis Lazuli was (and still is) considered to be the most expensive pigment ever made. It’s made from grinding up Lapis Lazuli semi-precious stones. Today you might be able to grab five grams for about $360 in Manhattan. But, during the Renaissance the wealthy art patrons wanted the rich almost neon-like blue in religious paintings. See the “Virgin in Prayer" (1640) above.
The history of color in art is often overlooked in the typical audio tours of art exhibits, but at the National Gallery in London a new show, Making Colour, focuses on the chemistry and color in art.
Some colors were quite dangerous, in fact poisonous. In order to make one flower brilliant orange in the painting “Still Life with Bouquet of Flowers and Plums" below, Rachel Ruysch used realgar, aka ruby sulfur. But realgar is an arsenic sulfide, and when made into a powder it’s quite toxic.
0 Comment "Poison, Dragon’s Blood and Mummies: How Artists Created Colors Prior to Pantone"
Post a Comment