Van Gogh's Colours by Jo Volley

Preliminary sketch for Van Gogh's Colours: A Pigment Timeline, a wall painting installed in the stairwells of the Van Gogh House in 2021.

The timeline is part of Jo Volley’s ongoing research into the materiality of pigments and one of a series of works that chronologically map natural and manufactured colours, from the Palaeolithic to the contemporary, as they emerge onto the artists’ palette. Informed through a close reading of the artist’s letters and associated texts, Van Gogh's Colours attempts to chart and celebrate the colours used by the artist across his lifetime. It is inspired by and dedicated to her father, as it is because of him that she learnt to appreciate some of the world’s iconic paintings, in particular Van Gogh’s Bridge at Arles, which he painted so lovingly onto the fabric of their home, and instilled in her a love of wall painting.

Immersing herself in Vincent’s correspondence, she began to truly understand how vital Theo was to his brother’s creativity and concluded that every artist deserves a Theo. In this instance, her Theo was the artist Benjamin Brown, who, from the conception of the work until the final brushstroke, supported its making. It was through his generosity, constancy and energy the work came into being.

Product Information

Jo Volley
Van Gogh's Colours
Pigment bound in gum on paper 
30.5 x 40.5 cm  Frame: 44 x 56 cm
2021 

About the Artist

Jo Volley’s work is concerned with measurement, light, space and colour as light, employing a wide range of materials. It draws attention to the nature of archiving, historic materials, and ideas of craftsmanship, incorporating traditional and contemporary techniques. In 2019, she established and directed Colour & Poetry: A Symposium to celebrate both International Colour Day and World Poetry Day and edited its annual publication Colour Poetry. In 2020, along with Dr Ruth Siddall, she established World Pigment Day, 22nd March.

Recent exhibitions include Apertures, Fondamenta Gallery, Rome, the result of a residency at MACRO Asilo, Italy and The Adjacent Possible, Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, USA. She is part of the REDiscover project team, led by Dr Vanessa Otero and funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), which explores the intersection of art and science. 

Currently collaborating with academics from the Queen Square Institute of Neurology to develop an archive of the colours used by researchers to create a wall painting, Colours passing through us, for the new UCL ION/DRI building, Gray’s Inn Road, is rooted in her research exploring colour and pigments. Its first manifestation was exhibited in May 2025 at the Crafts Council Gallery, London, as part of the exhibition Everything is Connected.

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