Richard J. Powell of Duke University traces the visual and conceptual synergies of colors in the works of selected painters. Color does more than serve artistic goals and capture the attention of viewers; it assaults one’s equilibrium.  In the case of painters—for whom hue and pigmentation carry surplus associations—color performs extra duties, especially when prismatic interactions and the sociocultural dynamics of race collide in unanticipated ways.

This is the first talk of the six-part series “Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect,” presented by Richard J. Powell of Duke University for the 71st A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts.