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A composite image featuring, L-R: a colour ornithological illustration of a parrot; a blue sculptural form in the shape of a chalice; a colour botanical illustration of a foxglove, a historic painting of a woman in a ochre yellow dress. A composite image featuring, L-R: a colour ornithological illustration of a parrot; a blue sculptural form in the shape of a chalice; a colour botanical illustration of a foxglove, a historic painting of a woman in a ochre yellow dress.

Images (L–R): Edward Lear, Parrot, collection of the Guild of St George; Michael Eden, Cyan Bloom, 2014. Presented to Tullie House Museum by the Contemporary Art Society, 2014, through the Omega Fund © the artist; Charlotte Catharine Murray, Study of a Foxglove, collection of the Guild of St George; Peter Lely, Margaret Brooke, Lady Denham, c1664

Images (L–R): Edward Lear, Parrot, collection of the Guild of St George; Michael Eden, Cyan Bloom, 2014. Presented to Tullie House Museum by the Contemporary Art Society, 2014, through the Omega Fund © the artist; Charlotte Catharine Murray, Study of a Foxglove, collection of the Guild of St George; Peter Lely, Margaret Brooke, Lady Denham, c1664

Colour

Thu 19 June - Sun 14 September 2025

Millennium Gallery

Explore a world of wonder...


We live in a dazzling kaleidoscope of shades and hues. Colour is a constant source of wonder – it is key to helping us make sense of the world, used to communicate by wildlife, plants and people alike.

 

It can reflect and affect our emotions and form great works of art. It has the power to symbolise who we are and what we believe, and is at the heart of some of our most enduring traditions.

This exhibition brought together over 150 objects spanning art, science, nature and cultural histories, alongside a range of interactive activities. It explored a spectacular world of colour – how we see it, how it’s made, how it’s used and what it means.

There were artworks by Hokusai, Kandinsky, Bridget Riley, Andy Warhol and more, alongside examples of exquisitely crafted decorative ceramics. You could see beautiful bird plumage and iridescent insects which showed how colour is used in the natural world and textiles that demonstrated the rich spectrum of natural and manmade pigments and dyes.

Outfits including a diamante-studded Trinidadian carnival costume and Victorian mourning dress illustrated how colour can imbue clothing with cultural significance, while examples of pre-historic gold jewellery showed the value of colour across millennia.

The exhibition also featured a striking Rangoli sand art installation and a new large-scale mural by artist Grace Visions, created as part of Sheffield’s Lick of Paint street art festival. 

 


A MAGNET partnership exhibition, with Art Fund support and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.  

 

Arts Council England and National Lottery Heritage Fund logos        Art Fund logo        Museums and Galleries Network for Exhibition Touring logo

 


Images L–R, Edward Lear, Parrot (detail), collection of the Guild of St George; Michael Eden, Cyan Bloom, 2014 (detail). Presented to Tullie House Museum by the Contemporary Art Society, 2014, through the Omega Fund © the artist; Charlotte Catharine Murray, Study of a Foxglove (detail), collection of the Guild of St George; Peter Lely, Margaret Brooke, Lady Denham(detail), c1664.

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An adult and a child smiling at each other and holding hands in front of museum displays

 

 

Exhibition highlights

  • An image of an abstract work. The background is white, with red and blue loosely shaped circles dotted around it. On top of that is black linework, including a black border around the work. The abstracted shape of a horse is visible to the left of the image.

    Wassily Kandinsky, Drei Reiter in Rot, Blau and Schwarz [Three Riders in Red, Blue and Black], around 1912

  • a colour ornithological illustration of a parrot

    Edward Lear, Macrocercus aracanga, 1832. Courtesy Guild of St George Sheffield Museums

  • A photograph of the head of a lion dance costume. It is mostly red and gold/yellow, photographed on a plain black background.

    Lion Dance costume, around 1993 Image © Sheffield Museums

  • A square photograph of a lady in a red patterned suit, holding a red umbrella. She is posing and looking directly into the camera. A group of children play on a piece of play park equipment behind her. In the distance, you can see a harbour full of boats.

    James Barnor, Drum cover girl Marie Hallowi, Rochester, c1966 © the artist Courtesy of Galerie Clémentine de la Féronniè.

  • A photograph of a Blue Morpho Butterfly specimen, wings fully outstretched. It is photographed against a white background.

    Blue morpho butterfly (Morpho cypris) Image © Sheffield Museums

  • A photograph of a semicircle embroidered badge. It has a rainbow on it and the word 'Greenpeace' embroidered in green at the bottom.

    Greenpeace badge,1980-2000 Image © Sheffield Museums

  • A woodcut print of a river in Japan. In the foreground, a human and a horse walk along the shoreline. In the midground, we see a boat on the river. In the background, there is a mountain. Shades of blue, grey and white are used throughout.

    The Jewel River In Musashi Province 1830-31 by Hatsushika Hokusai. © Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

  • A photograph of a camera from the 1910s with lots of accessories, including a carry bag, interchangeable lenses, photographic slides and colour filters. It is a large camera, one with an accordion like zoom.

    Camera from 1910s with coloured filters Image © Sheffield Museums

  • A black and white photograph of a woman wearing striped clothing behind metal bars. She is stood upright holding onto the bars, looking directly into the camera.

    Bayephi I, Constitution Hill, 2017 © the artist

  • A photograph of a purple sari, with gold embroidery around the edge. Other colours of embroidery fill the centre.

    Sari, 1960s. Courtesy of Charu Asthana Image © Sheffield Museums

  • A photograph of a golden ring, with a gap in it, photographed against a grey background.

    Prehistoric penannular ring Image © Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery

  • A photograph of a mangrove snake specimen, a black snake with yellow markings. It is coiled up on a bed of sand.

    Mangrove snake (Boiga dendrophila), 1983 Image © Sheffield Museums

  • A photograph of a mannequin wearing a long, black dress with lace elements. The model had a protruding belly, echoing pregnancy bump. It is photographed against a white background.

    Maternity mourning dress, about 1912 © Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery

  • a historic painting of a woman in a ochre yellow dress. She sits one with hand supporting her chin, looking directly out at the viewer.

    Margaret Brooke, Lady Denham by Peter Lely c1666

  • A photograph of a purple tunic, set against a white museum background. There are black and white details throughout the tunic, and there is gold embroidery around the edges.

    Adire oniko tailored tunic © Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

  • Three different colour spectrum on paper. At the top, there is a circle of concentric rainbow colours. Below that is a horizontal colour spectrum from red to purple. Below that, there is another gradient that begins with orange and fades to white.

    John Wharlton Bunney, Colour Spectrum Studies, 1860-1880. Courtesy Guild of St George Sheffield Museums

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