The catalogue Monochrome: Painting in Black and White, accompanies the exhibition of the same name that is running at London’s National Gallery until mid-February. The show will then travel to the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf.
I am the co-author of the book alongside Jennifer Sliwka, the deputy director of the Visual Commentary on Scripture Project and a senior research fellow at King’s College London.
The publication emphasises how painting “without colour” has long held a fascination for artists. A series of beautifully illustrated thematic essays tell how painters from Van Eyck to Rembrandt, from Dürer to Picasso, have been intrigued by the challenges and possibilities of painting in a restricted palette. We investigate how and why artists from the 12th century to the present have chosen to paint in black, white, and shades of grey.
Painting in black and white is a fascinating and significant aspect of western painting, ranging from medieval Christian works that stipulated an absence of colour for liturgical reasons, to paintings that sought to compete with other media, such as sculpture, printmaking or photography.
Why would people want to buy a black and white catalogue though? This publication makes a profound contribution to our knowledge on the topic as the only available book that fully traces the history of painting in black and white from the Middle Ages to the present day. The eye-catching cover illustrates a detail of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’ Odalisque in Grisaille (c.1824-34) – the painting travelled from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York for the exhibition – a nude woman seen from the back with her head turned, seductively engaging us with her penetrating gaze.
Although the majority of the painted objects illustrated in this book are in black and white, the book itself is in colour. This enables readers to see the nuance between the shades of black and white in many of the images. The inclusion of numerous attractive details of paintings encourages readers to look closely and appreciate the virtuosic skill at play in many of these works.
Full-page illustrations, carefully positioned in proximity to related text and at appropriate intervals, provide essential visuals for the accompanying story. The book is written in an engaging and accessible manner so that it can be enjoyed by many readers with a variety of levels of expertise in the history of art.
The grey cover fittingly reinforces the subject of this book and provides an elegant and effective way of attracting readers. The sections and essays begin with a full-page detail of a work included in that section. Between each essay are blown-up details across a two-page spread from Mantegna’s The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome (1505-6), a masterpiece from the National Gallery’s collection. Overall this is a very visual book, making it the perfect accompaniment to an exhibition that aims to make visitors “see differently”.
Lelia Packer is the acting curator of paintings, watercolours, miniatures and manuscripts (excluding France) at the Wallace Collection, London. Monochrome: Painting in Black and White is at the National Gallery, London, until 18 February
I am the co-author of the book alongside Jennifer Sliwka, the deputy director of the Visual Commentary on Scripture Project and a senior research fellow at King’s College London.
The publication emphasises how painting “without colour” has long held a fascination for artists. A series of beautifully illustrated thematic essays tell how painters from Van Eyck to Rembrandt, from Dürer to Picasso, have been intrigued by the challenges and possibilities of painting in a restricted palette. We investigate how and why artists from the 12th century to the present have chosen to paint in black, white, and shades of grey.
Painting in black and white is a fascinating and significant aspect of western painting, ranging from medieval Christian works that stipulated an absence of colour for liturgical reasons, to paintings that sought to compete with other media, such as sculpture, printmaking or photography.
Why would people want to buy a black and white catalogue though? This publication makes a profound contribution to our knowledge on the topic as the only available book that fully traces the history of painting in black and white from the Middle Ages to the present day. The eye-catching cover illustrates a detail of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’ Odalisque in Grisaille (c.1824-34) – the painting travelled from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York for the exhibition – a nude woman seen from the back with her head turned, seductively engaging us with her penetrating gaze.
Although the majority of the painted objects illustrated in this book are in black and white, the book itself is in colour. This enables readers to see the nuance between the shades of black and white in many of the images. The inclusion of numerous attractive details of paintings encourages readers to look closely and appreciate the virtuosic skill at play in many of these works.
Full-page illustrations, carefully positioned in proximity to related text and at appropriate intervals, provide essential visuals for the accompanying story. The book is written in an engaging and accessible manner so that it can be enjoyed by many readers with a variety of levels of expertise in the history of art.
The grey cover fittingly reinforces the subject of this book and provides an elegant and effective way of attracting readers. The sections and essays begin with a full-page detail of a work included in that section. Between each essay are blown-up details across a two-page spread from Mantegna’s The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome (1505-6), a masterpiece from the National Gallery’s collection. Overall this is a very visual book, making it the perfect accompaniment to an exhibition that aims to make visitors “see differently”.
Lelia Packer is the acting curator of paintings, watercolours, miniatures and manuscripts (excluding France) at the Wallace Collection, London. Monochrome: Painting in Black and White is at the National Gallery, London, until 18 February
