Category Archives: COLOUR SERIES

ASH Linen’s cool, quiet tone became areas of peaceful respite in Edouard Vuillard’s intimate interiors, drenching private spaces in a mysterious and enigmatic light. Leader in the Parisian Intimiste movement of the early 20th century, Vuillard’s paintings focussed almost exclusively on private indoor spaces, painted with soothing colours to convey a quality of quiet isolation…

LUNAR ROCK linen’s shimmering grey often appeared in American Impressionist Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones’ lively scenes, casting pockets of warm shadow amidst areas of colour and light. One of America’s most celebrated turn-of-the-century painters, Sparhawk-Jones portrayed ordinary urban scenes, from shoppers in department stores to children roller-skating and mothers in the park with wide brushstrokes and sparkling…

SAND linen’s full bodied saffron yellow was a favourite with French painter Maurice de Vlaminck, setting his paintings alight with warm, iridescent flames of colour. Central to Vlaminck’s practice was the relationship between colours, which could express riotous outbursts of emotion, with his distinctive shade of mustard yellow playing a top note above the rest. Reflecting…

The earthy ginger of APRICOT linen echoes Pierre Bonnard’s spicy Mediterranean oranges, colours that became a central focus in his flickering, light speckled canvases. Recognised today as a vivid colourist, Bonnard captured the warm light of his native France with intimiste, naturally lit interiors, blooming landscapes and sunlit gardens. An early abstractionist, his paintings reveal…

Fabric in the shade of SPICE Linen became billowing plumes of fire in the hands of Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, bursting out of the darkness like sparks of light. Leader in the Baroque style, Rubens’ canvases were charged with emotive, sensual energy and movement, as theatrically staged figures are engulfed in epic swathes of…

Albert Bierstadt’s dreamy landscapes convey the unspoilt wilderness of the 19th century American outback, conveying the awe-inducing wonder of sharp cliffs, huge skies and cavernous valleys with soft colours and hazy atmospheric light. Refined shades of bluish-grey like that of ELEPHANT Linen stain distant, craggy mountains and heavily laden storm clouds with quietly brewing drama,…

Fresh, ripe pinks like that of POWER PINK Linen streak across many of Willem De Kooning’s paintings, creating shockingly bright shards of colour amidst his frenetic expressionist visions. Leader in the American Abstract Expressionist school throughout the 1950s and 1960s, De Kooning’s paintings were often based on women, painted with flurried passages of pink in…

HONEY BLOSSOM Linen’s sumptuous pink flutters through Jean-Honore Fragonard’s decadent Rococo scenes, tinting ruffled skirts, diaphanous veils and the blushing cheeks of hopeful young suitors. Nestled amongst cool, watery greens and dusty blues, this colour brings the fresh, peachy glow of spring and summer into his works of art. But it also symbolises the blossoming…

One of the greatest colourists of all time, Pablo Picasso brought radiant yellows like that of EGYPTIAN YELLOW linen into many of his most famous artworks, infusing into them a golden, glowing light. Born in Spain before relocating to France, Picasso remained patriotic to his home country throughout his career, and he would have been…

Fertile moss greens of GREEN Linen are a vital ingredient in Pierre Bonnard’s paintings, bringing into them an energising, ambient glow. A leader in the early 20th century intimiste movement that observed the quiet intimacy of ordinary life, Bonnard made private, simple observations come alive through luminescent colour and scattered strokes of paint. Earthy greens…

Cold, white light runs through Pierre Auguste Renoir’s paintings, leaving dark, mysterious shadows in its wake. The mossy shade of FERN Linen coloured damp, dark corners of his outdoor scenes, soaking into them a weighty solidity and substance. World renowned for his sparkling qualities of light, Renoir helped lead the French Impressionist School to success,…

HONEYSUCKLE linen’s coral pink slices through Pop artist Patrick Caulfield’s paintings and prints, causing a striking and instantly memorable impact. Still life and interior views were his favoured subjects, brought bursting to life with the acid-sharp colours and flat, gimmicky style of comic book art. Eclectic arrangements of big, bold and simplified objects in deliciously…

Vivid, intense colour emanates from British artist Patrick Heron’s work, infusing it with glowing, atmospheric light. The rich, deep violet shade of FIESTA MARINA Linen was a tool in his belt that he would employ to create pockets of cool, wintery darkness, cut into with shards of vivid, acid bright colour, or intensified further with…

EXCALIBUR Linen’s silent grey hangs in the very air of Gwen John’s paintings, hovering around her lonely interiors like a dark, muffling mist. Best known for her portraits of pensive women in close tones of grey, brown and beige, John masterfully grasped the power of understatement, capturing private moments of reflection in these sitters that…

REDWOOD linen’s deep, throaty red encircles Vigee Le Brun’s subjects, swooping flames of scorching fire around their hair, waists and bodies. Best known as court painter to Marie Antoinette, French 18th century artist Vigee Le Brun was one of the leading portraitists of her day, capturing European aristocrats, actors and writers with her distinctively stylised,…