Talks & Conversations

Black, White, and All the Reds In Between

Toward a Critical Theory of Color in Medieval Arabic Architecture
A castle-like compound surrounded by trees with mountains in the background.

Dawn over the Alhambra, c. 2014, Creative Commons License

Dawn over the Alhambra, c. 2014, Creative Commons License

Color played an integral role in the philosophical framework of medieval Islamic aesthetics. This talk, part of a larger project aimed at developing a critical theory of color in medieval architecture of the Middle East and North Africa, will focus on color’s tactility and its communicative potential as supported in scientific and philosophical literature of the time.

About Abbey Stockstill

Abbey Stockstill is associate professor of Islamic art and architecture at Southern Methodist University and currently Paul Mellon Senior Fellow (2024–2025) at the National Gallery’s Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts.

Sign language interpreters are available for this program. Please call 202.737.4215 or email [email protected] two weeks in advance for a request. Learn more about our accessibility services.

You may also like

This painting shows a woman sitting with her body turned to the right, her hands clasped around her knees and her head tilted up to the ceiling. Her eyes are closed, and her long, wavy hair flows over her shoulders and down her back. She has pale skin, and her face is illuminated by dramatic lighting, highlighting her round cheeks and small nose. She is wearing a white blouse with ruffled sleeves that drapes off of her right shoulder, exposing her neck, sternum, and part of her shoulder. Over this shirt she seems to be wearing a draped purple garment with a yellow border that covers her other shoulder and her legs. The background is dark.

Talks & Conversations:  The Art of Looking: Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy 

–
Registration Required
A sky streaked with azure blue stretches over a gray landscape in this surreal, vertical painting. The sky and land meet halfway up the canvas at a series of short, sharp, charcoal-gray peaks, like canine teeth. Small, diffuse, butter-yellow ovals waft above the peaks. Nine fluffy, cotton-ball like shapes cast narrow shadows across the gray-streaked plane. Three amorphous shapes float over the land closer to us. A ginger-brown, drippy form is to our left, a teal-green, bean-shaped object surrounded with fuzzy white tentacles is to our right, and a peacock-blue, L-shaped drip floats in the distance near the horizon. Thinly painted white and gray lines squiggle or sweep onto the canvas from the left edge. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right, “Yves Tanguy 29.”

Talks & Conversations:  The Art of Looking: Yves Tanguy, The Look of Amber

–
Registration Required
The image shows a woman seated on a chair in a luxurious environment. She has fair skin, delicate features, and wavy light brown hair styled in a partial updo. She wears an elegant cream gown with a red overcoat lined in white fur. A maid holds a tray with a glass, a small loaf, and a gold pitcher, while the woman holds a silver platter. Next to the woman, there are ornate armor and weapons on the floor. A painting of a man in historical attire hangs on the wall. The room features wooden paneling and elegant furnishings.

Talks & Conversations:  The Art of Looking: Marguerite Gérard, Deserved Sorrows

–
Registration Required