Decoding paintings through colour

How do the colours artists choose – and the ways each of us experience them – help us find a story?

Join Beks and author Chloë Ashby as they take a closer look at how to ‘read’ colour in some of the National Gallery’s most iconic paintings. From Van Gogh to Caravaggio, they examine how different artists use colour to guide narrative, shape meaning and even evoke emotion.

Whether you’re an art lover or new to art history, uncover hints and tips for how to decode your favourite paintings through colour.

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Chloë is an author and award-winning arts critic. She is the author of Wet Paint (2022) and Second Self (2023). Her third novel, ‘Family Friends’, will be published by Penguin Fig Tree in summer 2026. She is also the author of two non-fiction books on art history: ‘Look At This If You Love Great Art (2021)’ and ‘Colours of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes’ (2022).

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Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iOg5ICy090

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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Paintings mentioned:

Édouard Manet, ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’, 1882 © Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) https://gallerycollections.courtauld.ac.uk/object-p-1934-sc-234

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, ‘The Supper at Emmaus’, 1601 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/michelangelo-merisi-da-caravaggio-the-supper-at-emmaus

Diego Velázquez, ‘The Toilet of Venus ('The Rokeby Venus')’, 1647-51 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/diego-velazquez-the-toilet-of-venus-the-rokeby-venus

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, ‘Combing the Hair ('La Coiffure')’, About 1896 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/hilaire-germain-edgar-degas-combing-the-hair-la-coiffure

Vincent van Gogh, ‘Sunflowers’, 1888 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-sunflowers

Peter Paul Rubens, ‘The Judgement of Paris’, Probably 1632-5 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/peter-paul-rubens-the-judgement-of-paris

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Further reading:

Chloë Ashby, ‘Colours of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes’, 2022 [Book]

Chloë Ashby, ‘Look at This if You Love Great Art’, 2021 [Book]

Find out more about Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas’s fiery painting ‘Combing the Hair ('La Coiffure')' on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOSllLel-UI

Explore 'The Story of Van Gogh's Yellow Palette' from the National Gallery's Chemistry of Colour YouTube series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdapnts7kIk

Find out more about the restoration of Rubens’s ‘The Judgement of Paris’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiL3z0a9-eo

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Episode credits:

Guest: Chloë Ashby

Host and executive producer: Beks Leary

Producer: Harry Rosehill

Researcher: Hannah Rogers

Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver

Video Producer: Alessandro Sorenti

Editor: Paul Frankl

Theme music: Theo Elwell