Color and Light

Explore the story of light and color in art - both in the search for greater realism and spiritual ecstasy. Journey from Gothic cathedrals and Indian courtly painting to modern art.

Out of the absolute of Hindu metaphysics comes the nearest visualisation you can get to of a trance.

In his 60s, Goya abandoned his role as court artist to bare witness to the irrational forces unleashed by Napoleon's invasion of Spain.

For Renaissance art theorists, drawing always came before color. But Venetians see art and the world quite differently.

Ukiyo-e began with only a few colors, but combined them in increasingly sophisticated ways to create vivid depictions of a rapidly growing urban life. Wildly popular in all its forms, it demonstrated that every day transitory objects could be considered art.