Es werde (Neon)licht. For most of the last 90 years there has been some form of Persil sign atop the Wilhelm-Marx-Haus (Düsseldorf’s first high-rise, built in 1924).

Free colour talks this weekend and next at Brighton's Artists' Open Houses.

Art Herstory has begun the 2026 edition of our annual post about exhibitions of art by women of the 16th to c. mid-20th centuries! Museum Exhibitions about Historic Women Artists: 2026 artherstory.net/museum-exhib... We'll continue to add entries to this list as art museums announce new shows.

So very proud of my friend Simon Schama. Saw him between shoots for this film, and remember how hard it was for him, and how dedicated he was. Bravo!

When a friend puts you up in a hotel by a lake - as a surprise. Good morning, Griebnitzsee. Near Potsdam.

Blue things are coming: brightonmuseums.org.uk/into-the-blue/

Recent shoot in the Pavilion for an upcoming gala with The Adelaide Salon. Sumptuous pictures by Joe March.

We're at the @forarthistory.org.uk conference again today! Visit our stand at the book fair to say hello, browse our recent titles, and make the most of our conference offers.

Into the Blue! A new display, curated by me, with works on paper from Brighton & Hove Museums' collections in many shades of blue. Opens 2 May Edmund Dulac's Ice-Maiden, 1915 Small landscape by Frank Brangwyn, undated South Galleries, Royal Pavilion, 1826 brightonmuseums.org.uk/into-the-blue/

Finding the grave, name and last will of a Georgian woman: Life Writing research by our Associate Director Alexandra Loske @colourwoman.bsky.social published in the April 2026 issue of The Burlington Magazine: Finding Miss Gartside: www.burlington.org.uk/current-issue

After a magical 'Owl Sunday', which involved long discussions about writing inks, I sourced a rare bottle of Diamine 'Writer's Blood' (now sadly renamed 'Ox Blood'). Also Teal and Sapphire Blue. Because you need different colours for different lines of thought. #amwriting #tothinkinink

A bibliophile's dream come true. Was gifted life membership of THE London Library and converted my reader's card today. I have been dreaming of libraries (Borges-style) for pretty much all my life, and have used and visited many. This one is very special indeed. #Silenceisrequested

Been taming dragons for several days now. Fierce beasts. Exhibition opening soon at the Royal Pavilion. brightonmuseums.org.uk/event/dragons/

Preston Manor will reopen on 14 March and I am just carrying a ghost up the stairs in preparation. The picture, taken by David McHugh, made it into The Times. brightonmuseums.org.uk/preston-mano...

Jamie Dornan, Jessica Gunning, but most importantly: my super successful friend Jacquie at the Artios casting awards in London last night. Note the matching gold shoes.

Good night, all.

Unusual to see A Cultural History of Color in the Age of Industry (Bloomsbury Academic) alongside The Artist's Palette (@thamesandhudson.bsky.social) in a bookshop. Still love both cover images. Kandinsky's Palette and George Field's colour wheel. Thank you, @waterstones.bsky.social Lewes.

Saw this and wondered if @colourwoman.bsky.social was aware (or indeed involved!) www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/exploring-...

I'm sorry, but I am in love with this pendant, for several reasons. Sorry to be a touch materialistic for once, but there is more to it. Also, it's Valentine's Day, so here's a heart for all of you out there.

It's been a good day, with vintage colour, and vintage jewellery from a vintage ex-boyf. #Colourmania

Delighted to have been interviewed by the German magazine Die Mappe (first published in 1881!) about the colour pink. Special edition on COLOR (2026). #Farbgeschichte #Rosa #Pink #colourhistory

Quite a day at the Royal Pavilion and Brighton Museum yesterday: Sir Stephen Fry, sunflowers (Aesthetic movement and Regency), and a very well-dressed audience. Banyan by Zack Pinsent.

Bus(wo)man's holiday: taking my mother's favourite paintings to her new care home in Solingen. (I know, no gloves 🙄. None to be found.)

Goodnight from my little monk's cell in Düsseldorf. Been a taxing few days, but now reading about Matisse's blacks.

Also preparing something very yellow, for @roundtable92ny.bsky.social ##colorhistory #colourhistory #sunflowers

Working on a small but exciting filming project. #hotreds #colourtemperature #EdgarDegas

Why do certain colors carry such power? @colourwoman.bsky.social returns to explore the histories of blue, yellow, black (and white!) from lapis lazuli and chrome yellow to Whistler’s 'Symphony in White.' Register now → tr.ee/h6kiir

There were many beautiful moments in 2025, but this was the the most moving: 27 July in Shropshire. I found the grave of pioneering colour writer Mary Gartside, and her real name: Martha Gartside. With thanks to @sussex.ac.uk , @clhlwr.bsky.social, and many others. www.sussex.ac.uk/research/cen...

The opposite of writer's block: The Royal Pavilion: A Regency Palace of Colour and Sensation, published this year by @yalebooks.bsky.social . A few signed copies available in the Royal Pavilion shop. Pics taken today by Adrienn Deutsch.

ICMY, the full 2025 Seamus Heaney Lecture, given by Sir Simon Schama on the topic of ‘Politics and the Poet’ and featuring poetry readings by Leanne Best, is now up at youtu.be/KtQVa_H0hEA. Read more about the lecture @livuninews.bsky.social: news.liverpool.ac.uk/2025/11/25/i...

Portrait (2025) with Martha (Mary) Gartside's colour blots from 1805. By Jane Palmer.

Well, this was a bit of a surprise: Helena Bonham Carter with my TASCHEN Book of Colour Concepts in a photoshoot for jewellery designer Larkspur & Hawk. I am thrilled. larkspurandhawk.com/pages/once-u...

When you get a free meal in a very nice museum restaurant because they have a dish on the menu that could have been named after your book. Thank you, Verde Miami at Perez Art Museum for The Artist's Palette 🎨! (Note the palette knife.) @princetonupress.bsky.social @thamesandhudson.bsky.social

On a sabbatical, in Florida. There is a lot of colour in Miami Beach - day and night.

The Colour exhibition at the Royal Pavilion may have finished, but there are some new and exciting colour projects coming up soon. Watch these pigments, Miss Gartside, and my green silk blouse... (Photo by Stephen Engelhardt)

Portrait of Anna Boch holding a splendid neo-Impressionist palette, by Théo van Rysselberghe (1892), and an atmpospheric work by Anna Boch herself, titled Evening (1891). At the National Gallery's exhibition Radical Harmony.

The COLOUR exhibition at the Royal Pavilion finishes soon, but I have one more #ColourConversation up my sleeve: Join me on 11 October, 11am for a talk on colour in the Royal Pavilion. There will be Prussian Blue, Chrome Yellow, Chinese Vermilion and more! brightonmuseums.org.uk/event/johndi...

Gaga ooh-la-la. Mayhem at the 02 in London tonight. #LadyGaga

Went to the @royalacademyarts.bsky.social London to sign a few books. Did not expect THIS. Signed copies of The Artist's Palette @thamesandhudson.bsky.social and both versions of The Book of Colour Concepts (TASCHEN) now available at the Academy. 🎨 🎨 🎨

Stepping in for another speaker next week at the Regency Society, to talk about Georgian colour theorist Miss Gartside (and my holiday in Shropshire):

While searching for the 1819 grave of colour theorist Mary Gartside in Shropshire, I am unwittingly channelling Kate Bush in 1978.

Watching swallows at Stokesay Castle, Shropshire.

Up close with the luminous abstract paintings of Mali Morris. At the @royalacademyarts.bsky.social Summer Exhibition 2025.

On Saturday 12 July I will be squeezing colour out of 3 artists as if they were paint tubes: Peter Messer, Jo Lamb and Julian Bell will be talking about pigments, palettes and paint in the next Colour Conversation at Brighton Museums. Dragon's Blood will fly! brightonmuseums.org.uk/event/colour...

It's been quite a week. V&A lecture, heatwave, and book launch of The Royal Pavilion (@yalebooks.bsky.social). Buried myself in this humongous bunch of flowers this weekend, feeling grateful (and exhausted). Thank you all for coming!

Just really enjoying my job, even on the hottest of days. Introduced my book on the Royal Pavilion ( @yalebooks.bsky.social ) to an audience at the V&A, London.. A beautiful occasion. Thank you all for coming. The Royal Pavilion, Brighton - Yale University Press London share.google/6q72QwVk3KLs...

This coming Tuesday, 1 July, I will be introducing the Royal Pavilion and my new book about it (with Yale University Press) at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Please join me if you can. The Royal Pavilion, Brighton - Talk at V&A South Kensington www.vam.ac.uk/event/gdpMdq...

The day before tomorrow: my new book on the Royal Pavilion has arrived in Brighton Museums' shop, and I have been signing a few copies. Publication date 24 June 2025. @yalebooks.bsky.social yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...

Sharon Black wins 39th Frogmore Poetry Prize Glasgow-born poet Sharon Black now lives in a remote valley of the Cévennes in France. Sharon was previously awarded the Frogmore Prize in 2011 and joins a select group of poets who have won the Prize more than once www.frogmorepress.co.uk/uncategorize...

China in my hand. Hangzhou. It is very wet, but the umbrellas are pretty.