The digital representation of the colours used in the display of our artworks will never be completely true to their originals, for many reasons. We make every effort to ensure that the digital images presented on our website are as reasonable a representation of the artwork as we can produce for displaying across a varied range of devices. Please remember that the colour settings on your device’s display, for instance contrast, brightness and colour, will affect the appearance of the images.
Although our images have to go through editing to control aspects such as size and colouration, this is only done with the sole intention of maintaining their accuracy and continuity within context. The display of an artwork and its colour or condition will never be digitally manipulated with the intention of misrepresentation. We present all aspects of an artwork including its colour, and if applicable its flaws, in as much detail and accuracy as we can both in its digital image and in our written details and notes.
We use the following terms and phrases to describe the application of colour to an artwork:
“Colour”:
Refers to an original work of art that has been created in colour by the artist’s application of mediums to a surface.
“Original Hand Colour”:
Refers to an artwork on which the colour, often watercolour, has been applied by hand at, or close to, the time of its creation and/or publication.
“Later Hand Colour”:
Refers to an artwork on which the colour, often watercolour, has been applied by hand at a later date after its creation and/or publication.
“With Original Hand Colour”:
Refers to an artwork which has partial colouring, often watercolour, applied by hand at, or close to, the time of its creation and/or publication.
“With Later Hand Colour”:
Refers to an artwork which has partial colouring, often watercolour, applied by hand at a later date after its creation and/or publication.
“Original Printed Colour”:
Refers to an artwork on which the colour has been transferred directly onto the surface by means of a manual or machine or digital printing technique/process at the time of its creation and/or publication.
“Monochrome”:
Refers to an artwork created with one colour, or shades of one colour in addition to white. Traditionally these artworks are simply using black and white and greyscale colours, for instance charcoal.
(In case you thought white was the absence of colour and black was the mixture of all the colours, the question of whether black and white are colours has been long debated! The answer will often depend on whether you are talking to an artist or a physicist because ‘Colour Theory’ can relate to (a) Colour as light – in which case black is not a colour, and white is a colour. (b) Colour as pigment or molecular colouring agent – in which case black is a colour, and white is not a colour. (c) Colour pertaining to vision and reflection.
