Western Color Theory And Practice - About Painting Color Two Pairs Of Key Issues

It's a historical fact that painting in oil originated in Europe, in other words, oil painting is a foreign thing. The problem of the practice of this imported medium in China is the overlooking of the foreignness of this form of art that undoubtedly constitutes its very characteristic. The neglect of this simple fact has to some extent affected the development of oil painting in China, though it has been practiced for centuries and has become the major genre of modern Chinese art. The history of oil painting testifies that the representation of form and color constitutes its main objectives. Above all, the exploration and analysis of color make what is oil painting. Therefore, the importance of studying the history and the nature of color as applied in oil painting is the key to understand the development of oil painting. This thesis aims to introduce the key concepts and historical debates concerning color by absorbing the works by such contemporary representative European scholars as John Gage, Paul Hills and Michel Pastoureau, in the hope that this study will to certain degree fill in the vacuum of the knowledge of the theories and history of color studies as developed in the west, and that this will help the practice of the medium in China.This study will be divided into three parts. The first chapter surveys the general state of the color scholarship in Europe, and by doing so indicating the main issues to be discussed in the subsequent chapters.The second part is concerned with the time honored debate called "drawing vs color", which tries to follow the historical arguments first and then focus on the European individual artists. The problem of the relationship between the natural color and artistic coloring is also considered.The third chapter deals with the psychological effects of color and its physicality, which raises the question of how to conciliate them in the process of creation. This part especially is concerned with the effects of light and color, their harmony and conflicts. And it also discusses the science of modern optics and the emotional expressive power of color.The last chapter address the important aspect of the touch and sound of color, which has been what is always strived by great oil painters in Europe since the Renaissance down to the 20th century.It must be made clear from the start that it is impossible for me to study the subject without a direct observation of the original paintings of great masters in the field. So my study is purely based on the recent works of the major scholars in Europe, and the modest aim of this thesis is to help us understand the issues rising from the history of color. If this purpose is achieved my effort will prove not futile.