The toxic colour that comes from volcanoes
Convinced that the luminous shimmer of orpiment (its name is a contraction of Latin aurum, meaning ‘gold’, and pigmentum meaning ‘colour’) must be a key ingredient in concocting the Philosopher’s Stone, alchemists for centuries risked exposure to the noxious substance. So did artists. To dabble in the occult of orange was to flirt with mortality and immortality in equal measure.
With orpiment as a starting place, orange's use throughout art history is discussed, touching on Gauguin, Matisse, Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Munch, and Leighton.
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