Through the ages, discoveries in chemistry have expanded the artist’s palette with new colorants, while the demands of fashion and the arts have pushed scientists to search for new ways to create color. Chemistry of Color charts the relationship between chemistry and art over a period of more than 4,500 years by exploring a selection of natural and synthetic colorants used to create pigments and dyes that color our world.

Chemistry of Color is one of a series of three IMA exhibitions called CSI (Conservation Science Indianapolis) which focus on how science and scientific detective work help inform the study of art.

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.