To match, choose artwork that features colours in the same palette. It doesn’t have to match exactly. It’s okay if the hue and the lightness is different – it will still appear complementary.
From Picasso and Hokusai’s Prussian Blue to Vermeer’s shade of red: A history of art in 7 colours
Kelly Grovier traces the pigments that make up hidden layers in masterpieces – some of them toxic – from Picasso and Hokusai’s Prussian Blue to Vermeer’s shade of red.
Colours have minds of their own. They keep secrets and hide shady pasts. Every colour we encounter in a great work of art, from the ultramarine that Johannes Vermeer wove into the turban of his Girl with a Pearl Earring to the volatile vermillion that inflames the fiery sky of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, brings with it an extraordinary backstory. These histories unlock surprising layers in masterpieces we thought we knew by heart. This fascinating and forgotten language that paintings and sculptures use to speak to us is the subject of my new book, The Art of Colour: The History of Art in 39 Pigments. Colour, we discover, is never what it seems.
Consider, for instance, Prussian Blue, the captivating hue that unexpectedly connects Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa, 1831, with Pablo Picasso’s The Blue Room, 1901. Had it not been for an accident in an alchemist’s lab in Berlin in 1706, such works, and countless others besides by Edgar Degas and Claude Monet, would never have pulsed with such enduring mystery or power.
It all started when a German occultist by the name of Johann Konrad Dippel bungled a recipe for an illicit elixir that he believed could cure all human ailments. Born in Frankenstein’s Castle three decades earlier, Dippel (who, some suspect, inspired Mary Shelley’s Doctor Frankenstein) was about to discard his botched brew of soggy wood ash and bovine blood when the dye-maker with whom he shared his workshop suddenly stopped him.
Fresh out of scarlet dye, the colour-maker grabbed Dippel’s rejected solution, chucked in a few fistfuls of crushed crimson beetles, threw the pot back on the fire, and started stirring. Soon, the two were staring with astonishment at what was bubbling back at them in the cauldron: nothing remotely red at all, but a deep shimmering blue that could rival the resplendence of ultra-expensive ultramarine, which for centuries had been prized as a precious pigment far dearer than gold.
It wasn’t long before artists were reaching for Prussian Blue (so christened after the region of its serendipitous concoction) with both hands, lacing their works with fresh levels of mystery and intrigue. This is the thing about colour: it never forgets. Just as the etymology of a given word can augment our reading of the poems and novels in which that word appears, the origin of a colour shapes the meaning of the masterpieces in which it features.
Invented by Stone Age cave-dwellers and savvy scientists, seedy charlatans and greedy industrialists, the colours that define the works of everyone from Caravaggio to Cornelia Parker, Giotto to Georgia O’Keeffe, vibrate with riveting tales. Although Van Gogh might have sculpted a smidgen of so-called Indian Yellow into the shape of a moon in the corner of The Starry Night, 1889, the sharp pigment still retains an aura of its anguished origin – distilled as it was from the urine of cows fed nothing more than mango leaves. A colour’s making is a colour’s meaning.
What follows is a selection of great works whose deepest meanings are unlocked by exploring the origins and adventures of the colours inside them.
John Singer Sargent’s Madame X (1883-4) (Credit: Getty Images)
HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST WALL COLOR TO GO WITH YOUR ART
Before hanging any art piece on your interior walls, it’s crucial to think about the direction and theme of your design. Think about what you want a room to look like when everything’s done.
Evaluate your preferences, whether you want a peaceful or cozy vibe. Or you want your space to look more elegant, bright, clean, formal, or something dramatic. Whichever path you take will assist you in determining the suitable color scheme to match your art pieces and wall color.
A calm environment, for example, would require darker and cooler colors like greens, blues, and purples. A mix of neutrals and gentler, lighter tones could be used in a more brilliant and simple design. And how about some drama? Choose brighter, warmer shades like magenta or red.
2. Identify Your Wall Paint’s Undertone
Pxfuel by Oqald
The shade of your interior walls may appear clear to you but take a deeper look. Unless the paint color of your wall is pure white, there will almost certainly be some undertones that will alter your entire color palette. All paint colors contain undertones, including grays, beiges, and whites. The problem is that these “concealed” hues are difficult to notice unless you compare your wall paint to a different shade.
That’s why having a paint color fan deck for color comparisons comes in handy. If your interior wall color is eggshell, cream, ivory, or another neutral white, choose the purest white on the fan deck to detect undertones. Likewise, compare your wall to other shades of blue, beige, or gray to get a sense of the fine undertones affecting the dominant hue.
Matching the color palette of your artworks with the undertone of your wall helps ensure that nothing appears strangely “wrong” when everything is put together.
3. Choose a Color Scheme
Here are some useful design ideas to consider — and when you’ll need to pull out your color wheel. When it comes to the type of color scheme that will bind your room together, you have three options: monochromatic, complementary, or analogous.
Let’s have a look at what each of these represents.
Pxhere for Creative Commons
Monochromatic
Become one with your color palette. A monochromatic design creates a unified, harmonious aesthetic in your space by using only one color in various shades. Choose a few distinct tones, shades, or tints of the same color to incorporate in your artwork based on the color of your wall (or undertone).
Photo by Pixabay
Complementary
Do you want to make a bigger statement with your art? Then you should go with a complementary color palette. Complementary hues, such as green and purple or orange and blue, are opposite each other on the color wheel. Combining complementary shades produces a striking contrast and adds interest to the space.
If your wall paint color is neutral, consider the undertone to determine which complementary color to choose. If your wall already has a specific hue, simply locate its inverse on the color wheel!
Analogous
Analogous colors are those that are adjacent on the color wheel. Using tones of the same color will result in a more peaceful and harmonious effect between your hanging art and wall color.
Choose one dominating color and apply the remaining two or three as accent colors. If your wall paint color is neutral, start your analogous color scheme with the undertone of the wall. For example, if your wall color has a light-blue undertone, your accent colors could be soft green and navy blue.
Neutral
If you thought matching neutral art with a neutral decor would equal boring then think again. This abstract swirl is the epitome of elegance with some gorgeous coffee colour blending.
Of course the wonderful thing about neutrals is you can clash to your heart’s desire, so if you want big, bold colour go for it! Almost anything will work.
Match
SOPHISTICATION: A neutral decor meets creativity in ‘Elegance’, resulting in a perfect balance.
Clash
BLAZING: Channel the fun in a neutral decor with bright and dazzling artwork.
Olive
Impressionist art often works perfectly with modest colour palettes like neutrals, olives and tans, as this style of painting typically features light to capture a moment in time. If you’re looking to create ambience, it’s often easy to find an impressionist print that will blend with a room’s colour scheme.
When opting to mismatch with olive colours, remember it’s not always about the extent of colour contrast. In the example below, the leafy greens of the print feature many of the same colours as the decor. It’s only the orange orchids and hibiscus that create a welcome pop of clashing colour. Sassy isn’t it?
Match
UNITY: Impressionist art is the perfect pick for an olive, neutral and tan decor.
Clash
POP OF COLOUR: The orange flowers add that special something in this olive bedroom.
Turquoise
When your sofa is turquoise, you know you can have as much fun with artwork as you like. How subtle is that pink vase in the interior below? How perfect is the matching abstract? Thank you turquoise. We love you.
To contrast, watch how the hue in the pink of the vase of flowers is cleverly transitioned to purple. The decor is dominantly turquoise, but that piece of pink and the black lamp create harmony with the dramatic artwork.
Match
RADIANT: Bring the fun of summer home with a ‘Watermelon Crush’ abstract.
Clash
DRAMATIC: This contemporary piece adds a touch of refinement to the room.
