Little Shop of Colours

Seriously...

• Episode: Little Shop of Colours
• Website: Seriously...
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pc9qx/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:30:08
• Published: 2017-09-08 16:00

What stories are hiding among the paints and pigments in an art supplies shop? L Cornelissen & Son has been supplying artists since the 19th century. Based in a little shop near the British Museum, it's a Victorian throwback - all dark wood, high shelves and creaky floorboards. Jars of pigment 'glint like jewels in the semi-dark' (as Derek Jarman put it), full of vibrant powders with mysterious names and long, strange histories - Lapis Lazuli, Rose Madder, Naples Yellow, Potters Pink, Egyptian Blue, Caput Mortuum. Cathy FitzGerald holes up in the shop for a week to hear its customers' stories. What are they buying? What are they making? Presented and produced by Cathy FitzGerald Original music by Stephen Coates A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4