Pigment (cinnabar, or cinabro) from the Forbes pigment collection, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies.
Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138
This daylong symposium features presentations by scientists, curators, conservators, and artists who will discuss the uses of color in works of art. Talks will focus on both the immaterial and material aspects of color, including symbolism and significance in the use of materials since ancient times, the trade in precious colorants, challenges of creating art without traditional color, conservation of works that incorporate colored light, and perspectives of artists on the use of color in their own works.
Morning Session
9:30am - Coffee and refreshments
10:00am - Welcome
Henry Lie, Director of the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museums
Introductory Remarks
Erin Mysak, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Conservation Science, Harvard Art Museums
10:30am - Color in Archaeological Material
Patrick Degryse, Professor at the Centre for Archaeological Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium
11:45am - Pigments and Dyes: The Stuff of the Infinite Rainbow on the Renaissance Italian Palette
Barbara Berrie, Senior Conservation Scientist, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
12:30pm - Lunch
Afternoon Session
1:45pm - Color and Crime: The Uses of Black in Postwar Painting
Harry Cooper, Curator and Head of the Department of Modern & Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
2:30pm - Colored Electric Light: Documenting the Work of Dan Flavin
Francesca Esmay, Conservator, Panza Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
3:15pm - Coffee break
3:45pm - Color and Its “Artistic” Rules: Hue/Value/Chroma and Other Qualifiers Regarding Relativity
Kate Shepherd, Artist, New York, NY
4:30pm - Field Notes
Mike Glier, Artist and Professor of Art, Williams College, Williamstown, MA
5:15pm - Reception
Free admission. No registration required. Complimentary parking at Broadway Garage, 7 Felton Street.
Program organized by Erin Mysak, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Conservation Science at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museums.
Funding for this symposium has been generously provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.