Tiziano Vecelli and Oswald Boateng: Two Masters of Colour for the Brown Body

Titian and Colour

Portrait of Laura Dianti & Diana and Actaeon

Whilst selecting the pictures for a tour of the National Gallery part of  The Image of the Black in London Galleries series I was studying the black servant in the 1556-9 piece by Tiziano Vecelli  aka Titian Diana and Actaeon, when I was struck by Titian's use of orange set against the brown skin of Diana's servant,  orange and brown skin go together so well. I speak from experience as one of my favourite shirts was a bright vivid orange one by the acclaimed Savile Row tailor and fashion designer Oswald Boating (I am big fan), sadly the shirt was worn out through use some time ago but its memory lives on!

Oswald Boateng and Colour
Pictures from http://ozwaldboateng.co.uk/history

Oswald  is a master of colour,  especially those that  complement the black and the brown body. He uses not just oranges, but purples, greens, and yellows in his collections. Using himself as the muse for his ready to wear collection he creates some stunning looks, interworking ideas on colour and occasionally adding a African cloth to heightening the effect of his use of bright, vivid, almost acid colours.

Titian had a similar eye for colour five hundred years earlier when he choose that orange for that servant. That same sensitivity to colour can be seen in the multi coloured striped attire of the attendant in his 1520 Portrait of Laura Dianti. The little boy's multi striped costume contain not use any colours but all those colours that go so well with his brown skin.

So there we have two masters in their fields, one an artist the other a fashion designer and tailor, centuries and cultures apart yet coming to the same conclusion when selecting a colour palette to highlight the brown body,