Van Dyke brown

Van Dyke (Vandyke) brown is a warm brown colour for painting and printmaking. Early accounts of the pigment call it Cassel (or Kassel) earth or Cologne earth. Today it is usually called Van Dyke brown after the painter Anthony van Dyck.[1]

The colour was originally made from a mixture of peat or soil and oil paints.

Despite being named after Anthony van Dyck, the pigment has not been found in his work. It is found in some American paintings of the nineteenth century.

References

  1. Feller, Robert L.; Johnston-Feller, Ruth M. 2012. Vandyke Brown. In Fitzhugh, Elisabeth West (ed). Artists' Pigments: a handbook of the history of characteristics. Vol. 3. Archetype Publications. pp. 157–189.[2]: p157.