Finding Inspiration in Colour: Twelve Great Colourists

The one constant in all my work is a deep love of colour. I believe that while a great colour palette can rescue a weak design, even the best design won’t shine with a bad palette. Think about walking into a gallery—the first thing that grabs you is the colour. Only then do you decide if you actually like the piece, but it’s the colour that pulls you in. Last week, I gave a talk for The Studio all about colour, sharing the five methods I use to choose a palette. As part of that, I rounded up my favourite artists who truly mastered the art of colour. Each one has a unique approach, but all are endlessly inspiring. So, without further ado, here are the 12 colour legends I turn to when I need fresh inspiration!

Peter Doig is a Scottish-Canadian artist known for his dreamy, atmospheric paintings. His work often mixes real places with imagined ones, using colour in a way that feels both nostalgic and otherworldly. They feel like stepping into a dream. He’s one of the most celebrated contemporary painters today.

Paul Gauguin was a French painter known for his bold colours and simple, striking shapes. He’s famous for his paintings of Tahitian life, but his time there was controversial because of his exploitative relationships and the way he romanticised colonialism. Despite this, his use of colour changed how modern artists approached their work.

André Derain was a French painter and one of the founders of Fauvism, an art movement that used bright, bold colours to capture feeling rather than reality. His landscapes and portraits are full of energy and life. He helped change how people thought about colour in art. He made the world look wilder, richer, and more vibrant.

Eileen Agar was a British artist who mixed surrealism with a love of bold colour and playful designs. She worked in painting, collage, and sculpture, often adding a touch of humour to her work. Agar brought a fresh, creative spirit to British modern art. Her paintings and collages often seem like puzzles, with such a range of colours but used carefully in isolated areas. To me they have always felt half painting, half textile in nature.

Richard Diebenkorn was an American painter whose work moved between abstract and figurative styles. He was brilliant at using colour to create mood, often combining soft, earthy tones with bold shapes. His art can range from quite muted and calm, to slightly wild and bold, always though with colour at the heart.

Howard Hodgkin’s paintings are explosions of colour, with a bold, gestural style that feels raw. His works often blur the line between abstraction and figuration, leaving room for interpretation. Whilst he would have been mortified to be added to a list of colourists (a word used to describe him that he fundamentally disagreed with, feeling himself a realist), I have to include him in my list.

Pierre Bonnard was a French painter who loved capturing everyday life in soft, glowing colours. He had a magical way of making colours glow, as though lit from within. His intimate domestic scenes and lush landscapes are filled with luminous tones - a delicacy I would love to be able to reflect in my work.

Maria Prymachenko was a Ukrainian folk artist known for her bright, imaginative paintings of animals and flowers. Her work is joyful and full of fantasy, inspired by her country’s traditions and nature. She’s celebrated as one of Ukraine’s most iconic artists. Her art is a testament to creativity thriving in the face of adversity.

David Hockney is a British artist famous for his colourful paintings of people, places, and everyday life. From sunny Californian pools to lush Yorkshire landscapes, his work is always bright and fresh. He’s one of the most influential artists of our time. He is my all-time favourite artist for the way he uses colour and the way he has embraced change over the years in his art.

Milton Avery was an American painter known for his simple but powerful use of colour. His pared-down landscapes and figures are poetic in their simplicity, letting each colour do the heavy lifting. There’s a timeless quality to his work, gentle but powerful.

Helen Frankenthaler was an American abstract artist who helped develop a technique of soaking paint into unprimed canvas. Her works feel fluid, but there is a simplicity in choosing few colours each in their boldest hue. She’s one of the key figures in post-war American art.

Mali Morris is a British painter known for her vibrant, layered abstract works. The paintings are generally structured into blocks of colours which balance off one another, creating areas that feel cohesive though always with some slightly jarring outlier. Her work shows the power of colour alone.