Seeing Red: My Mother Warned Me about Things Colored Red

We have a deep and emotional connection to red. It’s the color of Valentine’s Day hearts and roses, symbols of platonic and romantic love. Red has a very old association with passion, eroticism, and even sin, particularly adultery and prostitution.

Join Director of Conservation Perry Hurt for a lecture that takes a close look at the dyes and pigments artists have used throughout history that give us insights into our deep feelings about red.

This lecture is held in conjunction with the exhibition Seeing Red located in the Conservation Gallery in West Building.

Image: François Boucher, Venus Rising from the Waves, circa 1766, 56 × 45 in., Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sosthenes Behn