The paint-loaded palettes of fifty world-renowned artists are displayed alongside the paintings
the artists created using those hues and the colours and brushstrokes employed are analysed to
uncover surprising new stories about each artist and their work. Presented broadly
chronologically the artists featured in this revelatory book range from those working in the
17th century to the present day including Artemisia Gentileschi Paul Cézanne Berthe Morisot
Vincent Van Gogh Wassily Kandinsky Georgia O'Keeffe and Bridget Riley. Each artist's palette
- whether photographed or visible in self-portraits - is paired with one or more works by the
artist that reflect the colours of the paint remaining on the palette. Colour expert and art
historian Alexandra Loske skilfully analyses each artist's colour palette and brushstrokes to
reveal not only exactly how they used colour in their work but also to tell the story of their
journey with colour and the influence of their approach on the wider culture to which they
belonged. For example Georges Seurat meticulously arranged the paints on his palette in
prismatic order isolating the colours and pairing each with a blot of white paint. His
pointillist technique was equally apparent on his palette and his canvas. Kerry James Marshall
uses blots of zinc white and smears of pale pink on the surfaces of symbolically oversized
white palettes held by black artists in his portraits raising provocative questions about the
role of colour in the story of black history and white western art. The Artist's Palette will
appeal to an art history audience a wider audience eager to learn more about the use of colour
by the great artists and amateur painters looking for inspiration in the creation of their own
work.
