Rediscovering history’s women colour theorists

You might have heard of men like Isaac Newton or Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, but who were the pioneering women writing on colour theory?

To answer that question, we’re joined by cultural historian Alexandra Loske and The Colour Club founder Zeynep Sagir. Together, they uncover the lives of figures like Martha Gartside, Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Carry van Biema.

From intricate colour grids to radical visual experiments, we study the work, stories and lasting legacies of these women – revealing how their influence is being recognised today.

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Alexandra is a colour expert, art historian and museum curator. Her exhibition 'Colour: A Chromatic Promenade through the Royal Pavilion' was on display at The Royal Pavilion in Brighton in 2025. She is also author of 'The Artist's Palette' and 'Colour: A Visual History'.

Zeynep is an artist, colour consultant, and founder of The Colour Club. Through The Colour Club, Zeynep runs workshops, hosts events, and offers consultancy, as well as publishing articles and interviews.

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Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YK3CVlqDe4

You can email us with any questions via podcast@nationalgallery.org.uk

Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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Additional note:

Since this episode was recorded, Alexandra has undertaken some additional research into Mary Gartside and has found that her name was Martha Gartside.

Find out more about Martha Gartside and Alexandra’s research here: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/69706

https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/centre-for-life-history-and-life-writing-research/research/projects/lives-in-colour

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Paintings mentioned:

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Fighting Temeraire’, 1839 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-fighting-temeraire

Angelica Kauffman RA, 'Colouring', 1778-80. Oil on canvas. 1260 mm x 1485 mm x 25 mm. © Royal Academy of Arts, London; photographer: John Hammond. (RA ref. 03/1130) https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/colour

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Further reading:

Alexandra Loske, ‘The Artist's Palette: The Palettes Behind the Paintings of 50 Great Artists’, 2024 [Book]

Alexandra Loske, ‘Colour: A Visual History’, 2019 [Book]

Find out more about ‘The Colour Club’: https://www.thecolourclub.co.uk/

Isaac Newton, ‘Opticks: A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light’, 1704 [Book] https://wellcomecollection.org/works/d445akky/items

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ‘Zur Farbenlehre', 1810 [Book]

George Sharf, ‘Allen's shop in St Martin's Lane [...]’, 1829. Watercolour © The British Museum, London https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1862-0614-119

Roy Osborne, ‘Books on Colour 1495-2015: History and Bibliography’, 2020 [Book]

Cennino Cennini, ‘Il Libro dell’arte’, produced around late 14th century [Book]

Alexandra Loske, ‘Mary Gartside: A female colour theorist in Georgian England’, St Andrews Journal of Art History and Museum Studies, Vol.14, 2010 [Journal article] https://ojs.st-andrews.ac.uk/index.php/nsr/article/download/234/261

Mary Gartside, ‘Essay on Light and Shade’, 1805 [Book] https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1756677/an-essay-on-light-and-book-gartside-mary/

Mary Gartside, ‘An Essay on a New Theory of Colours and on Composition in General’, 1808 [Book] https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1756676/an-essay-on-a-new-book-mary-gartside/

Emily Noyes Vanderpoel, ‘Color Problems: A Practical Manual for the Lay Student of Color’, 1902 [Book] https://archive.org/details/colorproblemspra00vand/page/n1/mode/2up

Caroline van Biema, ‘Farben und Formen als lebendige Kräfte’, 1930 [Book] https://www.staatsgalerie.de/de/sammlung-digital/farben-und-formen-lebendige-kraefte

Bonnie E. Snow and Hugo B. Froehlich, ‘The theory and practice of color’, 1928 [Book]

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Episode credits:

Guests: Dr Alexandra Loske and Zeynep Sagir

Host and executive producer: Beks Leary

Producer: Harry Rosehill

Researcher: Hannah Rogers

Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver

Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti

Editor: Oli Mason

Theme music: Theo Elwell