Thank you to the woman who spoke so thoroughly about this topic. She was extremely well versed yet so understated, so comfortable with the topic. BRAVO! Very impressive. Loved it!

@nationalgallery

15 күн бұрын

Thanks so much! We'll pass that on :)

It's so amazing how beautiful that blue still is after 600+ years. How much I would love to see Renoir's Umbrellas, the internet only has small, not-so-great photographs of it, it must be stunning in person. From the small glimpse of it in this video, it almost looks like he used similar brushstrokes as Cezanne's in the dress of the main woman on the left. In photos I have seen over the years, I've always wondered why the characters on the right had markedly different blue tones than the rest of the characters, and now thanks to this video, I finally understand. Thank you!

@nationalgallery

23 күн бұрын

Thanks for watching, Liesl! You can also have a zoom into 'The Umbrellas' on our website here: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/pierre-auguste-renoir-the-umbrellas

@LieslHuddleston

23 күн бұрын

@@nationalgallery That was a treat! Thank you for providing the link.

@beckstheimpatient4135

8 күн бұрын

Lapis was also widely used across ancient Egypt as well as Persia, and Egyptians were also known to use its pigment as makeup! While this oil paint version was critical to European art, it is no wonder it's still so vibrant after 600 years - since we have Egyptian art that is thousands of years old and still vibrantly blue.

Interesting that blue is such a rare / hard to make color. In LEDs, it took decades until we finally were able to produce blue lights (bright enough for electronics / screens that is). Red and green LEDs had been around for 30 years or so, before blue ones could be made.

@JJONNYREPP

23 күн бұрын

The Story of Ultramarine from the Silk Road to Renoir: The Chemistry of Colour | National Gallery 1114am 24.4.24 some copper and vinegar.... you'll need a decent vat of vinegar and some copper piping. place the copper in vat and let the vinegar create a turquoise-coloured solution. if you do let me know if it works.....

Fantastic short art history and science lesson!

@nationalgallery

23 күн бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Seeing the lapis blue in paintings in the uffizi is beyond description

That blue is stunningly intense and beautiful. A fascinating history of a pigment. Thank you

@nationalgallery

22 күн бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Glad you explained how lapis lazuli was processed to make a usable paint.

An extraordinary history behind one of the most stunningly beautiful color pigment ever produced and used by the world's greatest artists explained in such great detail by The National Gallery!!😍😍❤❤

Blue and gold still looks rich and beutiful.

Wonderful short art history lesson with great detail

Thinking about all the lives that were consumed in these mines.... and still are. Thank you for sharing with us the journey of ultramarine.

I remember laundry blueing. It was very blue! A very interesting talk. Thank you.

James Fox's A history of art in three colours is a fascinating series which covers the history of blue pigment. It's available on KZread.

🌺🌹 Very educational; well done. Thanks.

Thank you, this was excellent! Will you do other pigments? It's a facsinating topic.

@nationalgallery

23 күн бұрын

Thanks for watching. Have a look here for more videos on pigments, with more to come soon! kzread.info/head/PLvb2y26xK6Y4V3T1xHphum23El4b93YzC

Fascinating. Thank you!

Amazing detail and science storytelling. Thank you!

definitely one of my favourite colours, thanks for this 💙

@nationalgallery

22 күн бұрын

You’re welcome 😊

I loved this video, thank you. I always wondered where that intense blue color came from and I always look for it when I visit a gallery or museum

@nationalgallery

23 күн бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Natural ultramarine endows the works employing it with an added allure, in so amazingly linking such disparate places and cultures across such vast geographical spaces. The hue also seems more vivid, literally richer, than the synthetic ultramarine examples, based on the survey illustrated here.

Wonderful, thank you for sharing this

Thankyou

So insightful. Inspirational. Thank you🇿🇦

Renoir painted two distinct styles in the Umbrella's picture, more impressionist on the right side. He also made a mistake and painted seven feet rather than six of the woman and two girls on the right. Thanks to NG for another interesting video.

@rotterred991

10 күн бұрын

I don't think that's the case. There's another person, a woman I think, almost entirely blocked out standing behind the "Mother" of the two girls. I believe it's her foot you are seeing.

thanks!

A very interesting video!

so interesting thank you

Very interesting video! I've never seen the Wilton Dyptich, it looks beautiful. Hopefully I can see it in real one day at the NG.

@nationalgallery

15 күн бұрын

Aw we hope you get to pay us a visit too!

I have seen at least half of your color and pigment videos! Going back for more this Sunday evening in San Francisco.

@nationalgallery

4 күн бұрын

Enjoy watching!

Excellent explanation. I do miss not being able to visit "The Umbrellas" in the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin.

Lapis is my favourite stone to wear, and I had no idea it was the source of ultramarine. Extraordinary to think of it being brought thousands of miles across the world in medieval times, and processed in rather a complex way. I wonder if those who painted with it had any notion of how intense and vivid it would remain centuries later. 🙂 Was it specifically or primarily used for depicting religious subjects at that time? It interests me that in the Catholic imagery I grew up with, Our Lady is invariably depicted in blue robes - maybe it goes back to medieval use of ultramarine?

In Renoir’s umbrella painting, the darker woman in natural ultramarine looks placed in the golden section for effect or focus. Just my impression.

Ultramarine is among my favourite colours. My utmost favourite is Yves Klein Blue.

Great video

I would love to go to London and see it for myself

💙 Ultra Capsule Lesson 💙 Nice

Thank you so much for such a brilliant film. Forgive my question but was the earlier blue (lapis) used in Persian miniature paintings. It is noticeable in the Safavid and earlier era. At one time the capital was Herat which is now in western Afghanistan.

I’ve wondered how lapis lazuli was turned into pigment. Very interesting- it’s so vivid! In “Umbrellas”, the woman on the left is quite striking, isn’t she!

@bleuvertetforetdepin

17 күн бұрын

There is a paint maker called "dirty blue" wich as a video showing the ancient process. You should appreciate it.

@nationalgallery

15 күн бұрын

Beautifully captured! Thanks for watching.

@rotterred991

10 күн бұрын

The woman on the left is Suzanne Valadon, and, though she was a frequent model as well as erstwhile lover of Renoir, she also became a significant artist in her own right.

That was cool! Thank you for sharing!

Thank you this was a a fascinating Presentation. Thoroughly enjoyed it & subscribed

@nationalgallery

16 күн бұрын

Welcome, Jack!

The thing with the mineral colours, is that they take a LOT of care and knowledge to make pigments from them. Some luckily are like ochres, which can just be crushed. Some tho like ultramarine are more finicky. Crush ultramarine too far, and rather than intensifying the colour, it actually lessens. There’s an optimum particle size which colourmen learned by trial and error…..given the pigment cost, as little error as possible.

thank you...

Are there any great resources on the science & history of such pigments? Edit: I mainly use color pencils, but even there the pigments matter. There's a carmine made from beetle shells, there used to be a brown made from ground-up mummies, etc. Indigo used to be associated with wealth & the slave trade. Titanium oxides are used for white, etc. Some pigments are loaded with toxic materials. It's fascinating all around.

@Corpseyworpse

23 күн бұрын

As someone who works in art conservation, no not really. Its a lot of archival stuff that most dont have access to. There are some things here are there, but your best bet is to contact people in the field. But fun things about some of the pigments listed above, mummy brown wasnt just mummies, it was also mummified cats. There is also some minor proof but still needs more research as its not concrete that some countries would make their own version out of executed criminals and slaves because of the high demand for it. Also the thing with indigo is way more complex than wealth and the slave trade, thats mostly just a european lens at it and not its important cultural significance throughout the world, you also have associations with barbarism(woad) and tons of other things. There is at least 6 types of indigo dye, with Indigofera tinctoria being the main one imported with the east india company. Tons of history here, and I dont know a lot of it as this is just a massive rabbithole ive never had the time to go down.

At least real top quality natural ultramarine is still made, usually for conservation and icon making. Still incredibly expensive, though! I'll stick with my beloved French Ultramarine 😄

Now I'm getting the blues.

To me, blue and gold speaks of earthly/worldly riches. Blue white and gold feels like it speaks of heavenly/spiritual riches.

@nationalgallery

7 күн бұрын

A lovely thought!

When watching, you have to remember that a camera, even a good one, struggles to render colours properly. Natural ultramarine is even richer and more vibrant in person.

@nationalgallery

7 күн бұрын

Absolutely! Nothing beats seeing these amazing paintings in person!

Interesting thats why i come

The Church had the monopoly on blue for use as the color associated with the Vigin Mary. The Northern Renaissance painters used red as their coror for the Virgin Mary.

I was confusing this with blue pigment made from sea snails.

Ultramarine blue now is not at all like it was in history. It is a hue now, not a pigment. Infact, the blue now is an icy blue, not with any warm tints. It is not versatile as pthalo blue is. It’s only asset is that is good in mixing with other colors.

Afghanistan source.

minecraft brought me here 🤣