The American Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko once said: “A painting is not about an experience. It is an experience.” Objectively, color is the element of art that is produced when light, striking an object, is reflected back to the eye. Subjectively, color is a sensation, a human reaction to a hue arise in part from the optic nerve. Colors are also symbols or codes that artists use to convey emotions, express themselves, and transform viewers intellectually and emotionally. When we examine color through the eyes of the artist, their belief in the power of color comes to the fore. This lecture starts at the beginning, more than 40,000 years ago.
