Black is one of the two essential and most used colours with its opposite white.

Either matte or glossy, it has been used for thousands of years to draw contours and create shadows. Its artistic use is actually unlimited. For many creations, it is sufficient in itself.

There are two different approaches possible to define black.

The first is physical: this is the additive system, which refers to light. According to this system, black corresponds to the absence of light, therefore to the absence of colour. Indeed, by not reflecting light, black absorbs colours.

The second is more pictorial: this is the subtractive system, which considers black to be the concentration of all colours. It is consequently a primary colour and is formed using the 3 other colours (blue, green, and red).

For reasons of impurity, its perfect production is considered theoretically impossible. It is nonetheless obtained from natural black pigments (historically from coal or smoke in prehistoric times, then from lead mines in the Renaissance period). The great “Master of Black” is the French painter Pierre Soulages, who managed to use this colour in all of its textures and intensities.