Orange has been used in art since the ancient Egyptian artists used an orange mineral pigment called realgar for tomb paintings.
There are multiple famous paintings that predominantly use the colour orange. Here are just a few. What others can you think of?
'The Orange Kimono' by Giuseppe De Nittis 1883
Giuseppe De Nittis was considered one of the important and influential figures in 19th-century Italian art. His kind of Impressionism is distinct, as it uses elements of Salon art.
'Branch of Orange Bearing Fruit' was created in 1884 by Claude Monet in Impressionism style.
Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh was deeply aware of the relationship colours had on each other and wrote, “There is no blue without yellow and without orange.”
'Still Life with Basket and Six Oranges' oil painting by Vincent van Gogh in 1888, with the style of post-impressionism.
'Setting Sun and Fog' - Camille Pissarro 1891 Pointillism, Neo-Impressionism
'Flaming June' by Frederick Leighton 1895 A young woman in a sheer bright-orange dress, sound asleep on a marble bench, the glistening sea stretching out behind her. Today the work by Frederic Leighton is considered a classic of Victorian art and has joined a shortlist of iconic masterpieces like The Kiss and Girl With a Pearl Earring as a touch point in the popular consciousness. But as recently as the 1960s, Flaming June was considered rubbish, languishing unsaleable in a junk shop in south London!
'Apples and Oranges' by Paul Cézanne circa 1899
L’Estaque' by André Derain, 1906
L’Estaque became a symbolic site for artists who were inspired by the shimmering, vivid colours of Southern France Rejecting naturalism, André Derain offers a new view on reality where colour takes precedence over drawing.
'The Elephants' - Salvador Dali 1948
'Orange Red And Yellow' Mark Rothko 1961
