Why we feel what we feel about colour

We're asking how we feel about colour – or more accurately how colours make us feel – and whether that's the same for all of us. 

Join colour specialist Zeynep Sagir and National Gallery host Beks Leary to get emotional about colour. Along the way, we talk about Pablo Picasso’s ‘Blue Period’ and Derek Jarman’s final film ‘Blue’, the calming green of John Constable’s ‘The Cornfield’, and Mark Rothko’s colour field abstractions. And we’ll see just how cultural our perception of colour really is. 

Zeynep is an artist, colour consultant, and founder of The Colour Club. She holds a Master’s degree from Central Saint Martins and spent two years researching colour psychology. Since graduating, she has gone on to become a certified colour consultant and colour therapist. Through The Colour Club, Zeynep runs workshops, hosts events, and offers consultancy, as well as publishing articles and interviews. 

Find out more about The Colour Club on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecolourclub/ 

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Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CN0KgUJtjJA

You can email us with any questions via [e-mail]

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

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To take our short survey about the podcast please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast 

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Paintings mentioned: 

John Constable, ‘The Cornfield’, 1826. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/john-constable-the-cornfield  

Derek Jarman, ‘Blue’, 1993. Tate https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/jarman-blue-t14555  

Vincent van Gogh, ‘Van Gogh’s Chair’, 1888. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-van-gogh-s-chair  

Vincent van Gogh, ‘Gauguin's Chair’, 1888. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0048V1962  

Further reading: 

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

Josef Albers, Interaction of Color, 1963 

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