The history of this exhibition and its tripartite collaboration –between the Nolde Foundation, the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI), where the exhibition opened – goes back to an approach in 2015 by the Nolde Foundation to see if the NGS would be interested in holding an exhibition about the German expressionist painter Emil Nolde (1867-1956).

The response was positive and the NGI soon became part of the project. The Nolde Foundation was generous in lending almost all of the 123 works in the exhibition, and this collaboration between the three partners is at the heart of the accompanying publication.
It was fundamental to the success of this catalogue that we ensured the colour reproduction was perfect. This is important in all exhibition catalogues, but Nolde’s colours are incredible, striking and the core of his work – the catalogue and the exhibition are subtitled Colour Is Life, after all.

Colour reproduction is often a challenge, because the works in any exhibition catalogue will often not be in the gallery, or even in the country, in time for them to be colour-checked in the flesh before the book has to be approved for print.
Luckily for us, the Nolde Foundation is always closely involved in reproductions of the painter’s works. So after the first round of image proofs came through our department, the second round went to the foundation, which was able to match the reproductions directly to the physical works.
This has resulted in an accurate representation of Nolde’s colours, which enhances the experience of readers. It was satisfying to walk through the exhibition and see how beautifully and faithfully the colours have been reproduced.

The main challenge of this publication was the constant shipping of proofs between our project manager in Scotland, the Nolde Foundation in Germany and the printer, Albe de Coker, in Belgium. We had to build in a longer than usual schedule for the project to accommodate all this shipping back and forth. It was lucky that we did this, as the proofs were lost by the couriers more than once between the three countries.

For the design of the book, we worked with one of our favourite designers, Robert Dalrymple, whose studio is within walking distance of our office. Dalrymple has worked with the NGS for around 20 years, so we trust our books in his hands, and he understands our publications well.

The catalogue consists of five essays, instead of numerous catalogue entries, which allowed Dalrymple to give most images their own page without text, allowing some breathing room to best show off these vibrant works.

The initial cover design was embraced by the NGI – the frenetic scene of well-dressed people socialising at a party encapsulated the spirit of the exhibition. Here at the NGS, we decided to work through another design with Dalrymple, this time using a slightly cleaner, calmer image – still full of colour and with a bolder title.

We were looking for a cover that would carry beyond the exhibition and ensure a successful life in the general trade. Dalrymple stepped up to both challenges marvellously, and the two galleries ended up with different catalogue covers that worked well for each one.

Jennifer McIlreavy is the publishing coordinator at National Galleries of Scotland. Emil Nolde: Colour Is Life is at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two), in Edinburgh, until 21 October

By Astrid Becker, Frances Blythe, Keith Hartley, Sean Rainbird, and Christian Weikop National Galleries of Scotland, £20; ISBN 978-1-911054 15 3