The hunt for the blackest black

Today we're on a hunt with artists through time, searching for the blackest black. We’re after the deepest blacks, the most accurate blacks and the most atmospheric blacks.

Beks is joined by artist Stuart Semple to help answer questions such as: is black really a colour and how do we see the colour black?

Step back in time to the Palaeolithic era to discover ancient cave paintings at the Lascaux caves. Then jump forward in time to hear about the scientific breakthrough Vantablack and the debates it has caused.

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Stuart Semple is a multidisciplinary British artist whose work spans painting, performance, internet art, and installation. His work is known for its vibrant use of colour and techniques that challenge societal norms and question the role of the artist.

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Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q67HKmopxSI

You can email us with any questions via [email protected]

Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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Paintings mentioned:

Frans Hals, ‘The Laughing Cavalier’, 1624 © The Wallace Collection, London https://www.wallacecollection.org/explore/collection/search-the-collection/laughing-cavalier/

John Singer Sargent, ‘Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau)’, 1883-84 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12127

John Singer Sargent, ‘Lord Ribblesdale’, 1902 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/john-singer-sargent-lord-ribblesdale

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Further reading:

Find out more about the history of the Lascaux caves: https://lascaux.fr/en/history-of-lascaux/

If you want to find out more about how we see colour, check out our first ever episode of 'Stories in Colour': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYTWp_iLRh4&list=PLvb2y26xK6Y5oKGCTKesXyO-LR3f2XcZF&index=19

Isaac Newton, ‘Opticks: A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light’, 1704 [Book] https://wellcomecollection.org/works/d445akky/items

Find out more about Vantablack: https://www.vantablack.co.uk/

Take a look at Asif Khan's Hyundai Pavillion: https://www.asif-khan.com/project/hyundai-pavilion/

Find out more about Sir Anish Kapoor’s work with Vantablack: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/03/11/anish-kapoor-to-unveil-worlds-blackest-sculptures-during-2021-venice-biennale https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/anish-kapoor/#venue

Find out more about Stuart Semple's work: https://stuartsemple.com/

Find out more about MIT's "blackest black" coating and 'The Redemption of Vanity': https://news.mit.edu/2019/blackest-black-material-cnt-0913

Robert Fludd, ‘Utriusque cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica, physica atque technica historia ... [Tractatus secundus de naturae simia seu technica macrocosmi historia]’, 1624 [Book] https://wellcomecollection.org/works/tymqmuxa/items?canvas=42

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Episode credits:

Guest: Stuart Semple

Host and executive producer: Beks Leary

Producer: Harry Rosehill

Researcher: Hannah Rogers

Technicians: Ian Warren, Tom Gulliver and Timothy Carpenter

Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti

Editor: Oli Mason

Theme music: Theo Elwell