- Hardcover: 440 pages
- Publisher: The Folio Society; New edition (2009)
- ASIN: B0030KQ3EO
- Product Dimensions: 27.2 x 20 x 4.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 316,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
A world without colour is unthinkable, and archaeologists have proved that the desire to mimic nature's hues in art is one of the earliest human instincts. In their attempts to create colour, artists, craftsmen and scientists have used every possible source, from the purple tears of sea snails and the blood of crushed beetles, to poisonous white lead and sacred Australian earth. In the process, fortunes have been made and lost, empires flourished and collapsed and our understanding of the world transformed. In this fascinating book, Victoria Finlay traces the astonishing history of man's attempt to reproduce the rainbow - one colour at a time.
This is the first extensively illustrated edition of Colour to be published and The Folio Society has spent months inclose consultation with the author researching the perfect illustrations to publish alongside a newly edited text. The result is a thrilling visual exploration of Finlay's subject, from aerial photography of Australia's red centre to chalk frescoes in Pompeii, from Japanese ink drawings to paintings by Monet, Van Gogh and Titian and from the mosaics of Byzantium to woven textiles in Mexico. Famous and little-known works of art lie next to dramatic photographs and fascinating prints in this glorious selection of over 100 illustrations.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a delight on all levels. Victoria Finlay has an obsession with colour, and is prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to get first-hand experience of the huge range of material that artists through the ages have employed to obtain the most startling effects on panel or canvas. She also has some remarkable insights into the world of dye-stuffs. New ideas appear at every turn - who else, for example, ever thought of the possibility that William Morris's employment of soft greys and blues might well arise from the fact that all the mediaeval wall-hangings that he saw were inevitably faded from their original bright colours? And she is witty with it.
The Folio edition is a delight in itself - sumptuously bound and printed, appropriately full of colour, and a weighty delight to hold in the hand.
Yes, we know that modern pigments with scientific names are more brilliant, more light-fast, and cover a greater range of the spectrum; but here are the ageless delights of lapis and cinnabar and madder and....
Expensive, but a must for all chromaphiles.
The Folio edition is a delight in itself - sumptuously bound and printed, appropriately full of colour, and a weighty delight to hold in the hand.
Yes, we know that modern pigments with scientific names are more brilliant, more light-fast, and cover a greater range of the spectrum; but here are the ageless delights of lapis and cinnabar and madder and....
Expensive, but a must for all chromaphiles.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Art, history, culture, and chemistry!
13 Mar 2011
Format:Hardcover
A marvelous mix of history, culture, chemistry, and the practical, social, and artistic issues of the use of colour. I had no particular interest in the topic based on the title, but, after some strong recommendations, picked up this work and was captivated. It's quite a lengthy tome, but is easy to read a chapter at a time whenever the mood is right. Each chapter focuses on one colour (or black, brown or white), and delves into where pigments and dyes come from, how they are made, the chemical and biological hazards associated with various sources and methods, the related cultural history, the impact of a colour on historical events, etc., ,etc., etc. This book is really loaded with historical, cultural, and scientific insights that will capture the mind regardless of your interest in the subject of colour itself. Highly recommended.
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