Richard J. Powell explores the concept of “colorstruck,” a 20th-century term addressing prejudice against people with darker complexions, in the 71st annual A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts. The six-part series examines how colors—chromatic interactions in paintings and the sociocultural dynamics of race—collide in unanticipated ways.

Color does more than capture the viewer’s attention; it assaults one’s equilibrium, physically and socially. Using blue, green, yellow, orange, black, red, brown, and their combinations as points of departure, Powell traces the visual and conceptual pathways of particular palettes. Through close looking at works by Nina Chanel Abney, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sam Gilliam, Jacob Lawrence, Raymond Saunders, and Alma Thomas—painters for whom hue and pigmentation carry diverse associations—Powell’s lectures reveal how color can strike a chord for freedom and reclamation in art and life.

The lectures were held over six Sundays from March 20–May 1, 2022.