Thompson Lecture: The World According to Color

Event Type Educational Lectures, Member Events & Activities
Date calendar  Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Time clock  6:00pm - 7:00pm (1h)
Location FIA Theater
Details

What is color? What does it mean? And how has it been used in the
history of art? Following his lectures on blue and black, Cambridge
art historian Dr. James Fox returns to Flint for the third time. But this
time he won’t focus just on one color; he’ll discuss them all.

In this talk, Dr. Fox will tell the story of humanity though the dazzling lens of color. He’ll illustrate it with some of history’s most important artworks: from our first eve artworks, made in red ochre tens of thousands of years ago, through to Bronze Age gold-work, sea-snail purples from the Mediterranean, insect reds from Mexico, the masterful paintings of Turner and Monet, and the greens of modern-day environmental artists—not to mention some masterpieces from the FIA’s collection.

Dr. Fox will look at the rudimentary properties of each color common to all societies, what meanings cultures have applied to them throughout history, and how they have shaped our world. In the end, he’ll show that understanding color isn’t only fundamental to understanding art; it’s crucial to understanding ourselves. Once you’ve heard this lecture, we promise you’ll never look at the world in the same way.

Dr. James Fox is a Cambridge art historian and BAFTA-nominated broadcaster for the BBC. He has published widely on modern art, British art, and the history of color. His latest book, The World According to Color: A Cultural History, was published by St. Martin’s Press in April 2022.

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