The History of Color

For thousands of years, we’ve colored our clothes, our bodies, and our environments to express our culture, our beliefs, and our traditions.

24 dyed Dacron samples attached to a bi-fold cardstock brochure.

DIGITAL COLLECTIONS

Color

This digital collection features a broad selection of materials related to the scientific study of color and the science and practice of dyeing and painting.

colorful graphic for BOLD exhibition

EXHIBITIONS

BOLD: Color from Test Tube to Textile

Take a colorful journey through more than 150 years of natural and synthetic dye-making.

Collage of blue images including the Virgin Mary's cloth and lapis lazuli

DISTILLATIONS PODCAST

The Word for Blue

From Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ to the internet’s great dress debate, our perception of the color blue has both fascinated and frustrated us.

Painting of William Henry Perkin

SCIENTIFIC BIOGRAPHIES

William Henry Perkin

With the accidental discovery in 1856 of the first commercialized synthetic dye, mauve, Perkin introduced a new era in the chemical industry.

DISTILLATIONS MAGAZINE

Fit to Be Dyed

The enduring appeal of tie-dye.

symbol of a rainbow

COLLECTIONS

Dig Deeper in the History of Color

Interested in historical materials about color? Explore our museum and library collections!

Navajo prayer rug

GROUP & SCHOOL TOURS

Synthetic Dyes and Indigenous Craft

Learn about the Navajo “Eye-Dazzler” in this interactive virtual museum program.

Detail of a pink translucent glass sculpture with wavy lines

COLLECTIONS BLOG

The Color of Extraction

Encountering rare earths in art, environments, and the phone in my pocket.

DISTILLATIONS MAGAZINE

Weaving Cultures

In exile, Navajo created new designs for their rugs and blankets using the new synthetic dyes.

prototype crayon samples depicting a variety of skin tones

DIGITAL EXHIBITIONS

Redefining Nude

Many everyday items are described as “flesh” and “nude” in color. Whose skin color do they represent?

DISTILLATIONS MAGAZINE

True Blue: DuPont and the Color Revolution

DuPont’s colorists were prophets of the color revolution, guiding corporations and consumers in choosing hues for everything from car fenders to countertops.

Color abstract landscape painting

THE DISAPPEARING SPOON PODCAST

Claude Monet and Bee Purple

How cataracts nearly ruined the impressionist painter’s career—and then revived it by giving him an insect-like superpower.

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