The Victorian Colour Revolution in Art, Fashion and Design



Overview

This course will reveal that, despite the prevailing image of the nineteenth century as a monochrome period of industrial pollution and mourning dresses, the Victorian age was one of the most colourful moments in British history. From dazzling dyes used in corsets and stockings and the flamboyant use of nature's beauty in fashion, to the shimmering splendour of ceramics and bold experiments by avant-garde painters, we will rediscover Victorian society as a vibrant colour-filled era. At the heart of the Victorian colour revolution was the art critic John Ruskin, who played a crucial role in shaping modern debates about colour. Rebelling against the bleakness of his industrial present, Ruskin praised the sacred hues of nature as well as the medieval polychromy of the past. Discussions about colour were not only confined to artistic circles. Scientists explored colour production and perception, and technological innovations such as vivid coal-tar dyes and chromolithography made bright hues available to all sections of society for the first time.

The International Exhibition of 1862 in London reflected this new fascination for colour. This landmark event celebrated the colours of the past as much as the new hues of modernity. We will also explore the equally influential hues of the East including Egypt, India and Japan. Our journey through the Victorian colour revolution will also consider the use of colour in Aestheticism and take an interdisciplinary approach to consider colour in the work of Decadent authors such as Oscar Wilde and John Addington Symonds.

Programme details

Courses starts: 18 Jan 2024

Week 0: Course orientation

Week 1: Men in Black: why don’t we think of the Victorians as ‘colourful’?

Week 2: hn Ruskin, JMW Turner and the Colours of Venice

Week 3: The Sacred Colours of the Middle Ages

Week 4: Unweaving the Rainbow: Darwin, Ruskin and Nature

Week 5: The International Exhibition of 1862 and the Aniline Revolution

Week 6: A (Book)Case Study: William Burges's Great Bookcase (1862)

Week 7: 'The most ardent apostle of colour': Owen Jones and the Ancient and Biblical Pasts

Week 8: Journeys for Colour: Travelling Artists and British Orientalism

Week 9: Colour for Colour’s Sake: Aestheticism and Decadence

Week 10: The Electric Fairy: the Legacies of the Victorian Colour Revolution

Certification

Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £257.00
Take this course for CATS points £10.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Dr Maddie Hewitson

Madeline Hewitson is a Research Assistant at the Ashmolean Museum where she is working on the exhibition 'Colour Revolution: Victorian Art, Fashion and Design'. She holds a doctorate in art history from the University of York.  Her broader research focuses on nineteenth-century British Orientalist visual culture. 

Course aims

To introduce students to the variety of colour cultures in the nineteenth century including technological innovations in pigments and dyes, the revival of historical uses of colour and writing from a range of Victorian authors including John Ruskin, Owen Jones and John Addington Symonds.   

Course objectives:

  • Students will develop an understanding of the newfound significance of colour in Victorian Britain and the transformation in its uses and meanings across the century. We will examine the ways in which it influenced the arts, fashion and design through a range of objects and practitioners. 
  • Students will develop visual analytical skills to study a range of material including paintings, drawings, sculpture, decorative art objects, textiles, costumes and books (including their cover designs).
  • They will also consider the relevant technological, political and cultural contexts of the time including the role that imperial expansion played in shaping Victorian thinking about colour and the significance of colour in definitions of race. 

Teaching methods

The course will be taught by a single tutor, Dr Madeline Hewitson, but on the principle that learning is a collaborative endeavour to which everyone in the classroom can contribute. Weekly classes will be delivered via lecture which will be centred on a richly illustrated presentation by the tutor. Weekly seminars will then help to consolidate learning and provide opportunities for students to express their individual responses to the material. Through observation and developing visual analytical skills, the conversation will arise in response to these images and the discussion will be active, open and welcoming of questions. 

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to have:

  • a knowledge of the Victorian colour revolution and its impact on art, fashion and design;
  • an ability to synthesise visual and written material including paintings, drawings, sculpture, decorative art objects, textiles, costumes and books (including their cover designs);
  • an understanding of the technological, political and imperial contexts in which new ideas about colour emerged and their implications for issues of gender, sexuality and race in the Victorian period. 

Assessment methods

Course assessment will take the form of a short presentation during the seminar in week 6 based on a single image selected by students from a group provided in advance. Presentations should demonstrate students’ visual analysis skills and their investigation into the image through research and the knowledge developed in the course so far. This presentation is not assessed but students will receive informal feedback from the tutor.

The course will be formally assessed with a 1500-word essay to be completed at the end of the term.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

Application

We will close for enrolments 7 days prior to the start date to allow us to complete the course set up. We will email you at that time (7 days before the course begins) with further information and joining instructions. As always, students will want to check spam and junk folders during this period to ensure that these emails are received.

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands

No previous knowledge of the history of art is required. Students might have an interest in nineteenth-century art history or history but the course will introduce key concepts and terminology throughout with no assumption of prior knowledge.

Most of the Department's weekly classes have 10 or 20 CATS points assigned to them. 10 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of ten 2-hour sessions. 20 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of twenty 2-hour sessions. It is expected that, for every 2 hours of tuition you are given, you will engage in eight hours of private study.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support