British biotech company Surrey NanoSystems has developed what it calls “the darkest man-made substance,” a material known as Vantablack, a sample of which is now part of the collections at the Harvard Art Museums. The color is located in the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies’ Forbes Pigments Collection, an assortment of about 2,500 synthetic and organic pigments that helps conservators, curators, and students study and safeguard artworks.