Drawing on his huge specialist archive, historian and paint expert Patrick Baty traces the evolution of pigments and paint colors together with color systems and standards, and he examines their impact on the color palettes used in interiors from the 1650s to the 1960s. He charts the creation in paint of the common and expensive colors made from traditional earth pigments between 1650 and 1799. He then explores the emergence of color systems and standards and their influence on paint colors together with the effect of industrialized production on the texture and durability of paints.

A Pigment Handbook is designed to reach a wide audience as the ultimate authority on artists' colorants. With the support of the National Gallery of Art, Professor Robert Feller has edited a collection of essays on ten of the most important pigments for conservators, restorers and art historians. The first two sections describe the character and nomenclature of the pigment and the history of its use. The third deal with colour, permanence, and compatibility and the fourth section enumerates the varieties of the pigment available and explores the different methods of preparation. It also goes into the nature of colorants of natural origin and the potential variations of character dependent on the source.

The author informs the reader about the history of colour, how paints and colours are made, pigment characteristics, permanence and stability, and how to choose and use the best materials. There is also information on how pigments perform in different media - acrylics, oils, and water colour.

This book covers pigments, the nomenclature of colors, the technique employed in testing color, artists' pigments, color theory, and elementary color chemistry.

In lively and accessible prose, color science expert Roy S. Berns helps the reader understand complex color-technology concepts and offers solutions to problems that occur when art is displayed, conserved, imaged, or reproduced. Berns writes for two types of audiences: museum professionals seeking explanations for common color-related issues and students in conservation, museum studies, and art history programs.

Color is one of the most basic means of human expression. It can connote mood, social standing, political alignment, or merely personal preference. In this text, Anne Varichon presents a comprehensive history of color - its origin, its symbolism, its significance.

Through a selection of paintings by Titian, Rembrandt, Monet, Seurat and others from the National Gallery's collection, the authors of this volume demonstrate how artists through the centuries have exploited the characteristics of color in paint.