Patrick Baty

Patrick has an artistic background – two great-grandparents were the artists Robert Bevan and Stanisława de Karłowska. He has researched the circles in which they moved and assisted in exhibitions of their works. Bevan had been described as ‘perhaps the first Englishman to use pure colour in the 20th Century’.

For the last forty years, Patrick has pursued a career in the decoration of buildings (primarily) of the 18th and 19th centuries. His work covers research, paint analysis, colour & technical advice. He has pioneered the use of spectrophotometry in such buildings and is frequently employed to make colour surveys.

Projects have ranged from King Henry VIII’s heraldic Beasts at Hampton Court Palace, and London social housing estates, to major structures such as Tower Bridge and Stowe House. He has also worked in the United States.

Patrick lectures frequently on the subject of paint and colour in historic buildings. He has spoken at several international symposia and assisted with a number of courses in the USA. The author of 'The Anatomy of Colour' (2017) and 'Nature's Palette' (2021), both published by Thames & Hudson. He has also appeared on television and national radio.

Patrick is a Fellow of both the Societies of Antiquaries of London and also of Scotland. He is also a FRSA and an Honorary Fellow of the British Institute of Interior Design.

He and his wife run the family business Papers and Paints, in Chelsea. In 2007 the company was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment to Her Late Majesty The Queen for their work with colour.

Patrick originally served as an officer in both the Regular Army and later in the Artists Rifles and has since become the archivist and historian of the latter.