Article:
Couleurs à la mode. Impressionism as an Effect of the Chemical Industry

Author(s): Kittler, Wolf

Abstract

The invention of aniline and other synthetic dyes in the second half of the nineteenth century is the beginning of a new epoch. The new colors produced by the fledgling chemical industry are not only brighter than most of the traditional dyestuffs, but also much cheaper. They change the appearance of women on the streets of the modern city. Among the first media to notice and document this revolution are fashion magazines, realist novels, and Impressionist paintings. I argue that the bright colors on the new palette of Impressionist painters are a direct effect of the chemical industry.

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Kittler, Wolf: Couleurs à la mode. Impressionism as an Effect of the Chemical Industry. In: ZMK Zeitschrift für Medien- und Kulturforschung, Jg. 6 (2015), Nr. 1, S. 159-184. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/18607.
@ARTICLE{Kittler2015,
 author = {Kittler, Wolf},
 title = {Couleurs à la mode. Impressionism as an Effect of the Chemical Industry},
 year = 2015,
 doi = "\url{http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/18607}",
 volume = 6,
 address = {Hamburg},
 journal = {ZMK Zeitschrift für Medien- und Kulturforschung},
 number = 1,
 pages = {159--184},
}
Keywords
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