This introductory seminar will cover the material science, metalurgy, physics, and chemistry of pigments, glazes, varnishes, paper, parchment, and alloys widely used in artistic creations, primarily paintings, prints, ceramics, and sculpture. Much of the historical discovery and exploration of these materials has been by artists themselves in a pre- or non-scientific eras where experimentation led artists to discover facts and principles that were understood scientifically centuries later. Topics will include the sources of color in natural and synthetic pigments and the optics of their mixing, the physics of patterns of cracks in drying paints and fired ceramics, the chemical and material transformations in clay and ceramic during artistic creation, and the metalurgy underlying the surface (patina) of metal sculpture. We shall see again and again how artists have exploited the underlying scientific and engineering principles as an integral part of their artistic expression. Students will have short weekly homeworks and a final project paper.
1 units · Letter (ABCD/NP)
This introductory seminar will cover the material science, metalurgy, physics, and chemistry of pigments, glazes, varnishes, paper, parchment, and alloys widely used in artistic creations, primarily paintings, prints, ceramics, and sculpture. Much of the historical discovery and exploration of these materials has been by artists themselves in a pre- or non-scientific eras where experimentation led artists to discover facts and principles that were understood scientifically centuries later. Topics will include the sources of color in natural and synthetic pigments and the optics of their mixing, the physics of patterns of cracks in drying paints and fired ceramics, the chemical and material transformations in clay and ceramic during artistic creation, and the metalurgy underlying the surface (patina) of metal sculpture. We shall see again and again how artists have exploited the underlying scientific and engineering principles as an integral part of their artistic expression. Students will have short weekly homeworks and a final project paper.
Offered in Winter 2026 at Stanford University.