Have you ever wondered whether pink really is for girls and blue for boys? In our final episode of series two, Beks is joined by Dr Vien Cheung, Associate Professor at the University of Leeds, and National Gallery Educator Ed Dickenson to explore the surprising, gendered history of pink and blue.
We trace the rise of fashion's 'shocking pink', the cultural impact of the Barbie movie, and the enduring image of one of art history's most frequently depicted women dressed in blue. Listen to uncover how colour influences fashion, film, psychology, identity, and even athletic performance – challenging assumptions about what pink and blue really mean.
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Vien is an Associate Professor at the University of Leeds, with a research interest in colour from all angles - from science and technology to psychology and philosophy, to art and design.
Ed has worked on the learning teams of several museums and galleries including the Horniman, Historic Royal Palaces, and Ben Uri Gallery. He has been a Gallery Educator at the National Gallery since 2017.
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? Find out more about the artworks in this episode:
Andrea Solario, ‘A Man with a Pink’, About 1495 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/andrea-solario-a-man-with-a-pink
Raphael, ‘The Madonna of the Pinks ('La Madonna dei Garofani')’, About 1506-7 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/raphael-the-madonna-of-the-pinks-la-madonna-dei-garofani
Paolo Veronese, ‘The Family of Darius before Alexander’, 1565-7 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paolo-veronese-the-family-of-darius-before-alexander
Sassoferrato, ‘The Virgin in Prayer’, About 1640-50 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/sassoferrato-the-virgin-in-prayer
Giovanni Bellini, ‘The Virgin and Child’, Probably 1480-90 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/giovanni-bellini-the-virgin-and-child-1
Guido Reni, ‘The Coronation of the Virgin’, About 1607 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/guido-reni-the-coronation-of-the-virgin
Cosimo Tura, ‘The Virgin and Child Enthroned’, Mid-1470s https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/cosimo-tura-the-virgin-and-child-enthroned
William Hogarth, ‘The Graham Children’, 1742 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/william-hogarth-the-graham-children
Claude Monet, ‘The Water-Lily Pond’, 1899 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-the-water-lily-pond
Vincent Van Gogh, ‘Sunflowers, 1888 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-sunflowers
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Further reading:
Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department Trade Publication, June 1918 [Article]
Take a look at Alexander Schauss’s research on Baker-Miller pink: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236843504_The_Physiological_Effect_of_Color_on_the_Suppression_of_Human_Aggression_Research_on_Baker-Miller_Pink
Find out more about the ‘red advantage’ in sports: https://redadvantage.webspace.durham.ac.uk/research/ https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/news/olympic-red-advantage/
Find out more about Pantone’s 2016 colours of the year – Rose quartz and Serenity: https://www.pantone.com/uk/en/articles/color-of-the-year/color-of-the-year-2016
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Episode credits:
Guests: Dr Vien Cheung and Ed Dickenson
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary 
Producer: Harry Rosehill 
Researcher: Hannah Rogers 
Technicians: Tom Gulliver and Timothy Carpenter
Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti
Editor: Oli Mason
Theme music: Theo Elwell
#NationalGallery #ArtHistory #Podcast #StoriesInColour
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