Blanc: Histoire d'une couleur

Histoire d'une couleur #6

by Michel Pastoureau

From the acclaimed author of Blue , a beautifully illustrated history of the color white in visual culture, from antiquity to today

As a pigment, white is often thought to represent an absence of color, but it is without doubt an important color in its own right, just like red, blue, green, or yellow―and, like them, white has its own intriguing history. In this richly illustrated book, Michel Pastoureau, a celebrated authority on the history of colors, presents a fascinating visual, social, and cultural history of the color white in European societies, from antiquity to today.

Illustrated throughout with a wealth of captivating images ranging from the ancient world to the twenty-first century, White examines the evolving place, perception, and meaning of this deceptively simple but complex hue in art, fashion, literature, religion, science, and everyday life across the millennia. Before the seventeenth century, white’s status as a true color was never contested. On the contrary, from antiquity until the height of the Middle Ages, white formed with red and black a chromatic triad that played a central role in life and art. Nor has white always been thought of as the opposite of black. Through the Middle Ages, the true opposite of white was red. White also has an especially rich symbolic history, and the color has often been associated with purity, virginity, innocence, wisdom, peace, beauty, and cleanliness.

With its striking design and compelling text, White is a colorful history of a surprisingly vivid and various color.

Genres: History, Art, Nonfiction, Art History, Education

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2022

About the author

Pastoureau was born in Paris on 17 June 1947. He studied at the École Nationale des Chartes, a college for prospective archivists and librarians. After writing his 1972 thesis about heraldic bestiaries in the Middle Ages, he worked in the coins, medals and antiquities department of the French National Library until 1982.
Since 1983 he has held the Chair of History of Western Symbolism (Chaire d'histoire de la symbolique occidentale) and is a director of studies at the Sorbonne's École pratique des hautes études. He is an academician of the Académie internationale d'héraldique (International Academy of Heraldry) and vice-president of the Société française d'héraldique (French Heraldry Society). When he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Lausanne in 1996, he was described as an eminent scholar who has made a radical contribution to several disciplines.
Professor Pastoureau has published widely, including work on the history of colours, animals, symbols, and the Knights of the Round Table. He has also written on emblems and heraldry, as well as sigillography and numismatics.

Reviews

[Netta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less academic than I expected.

[Margarida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it’s because I was travelling on a plane and exhausted while reading this book but somehow it didn’t strike me as interesting as its Red or Black counterparts. Still a solid investigation, of course.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heh! A few books ago in this series of European histories of a color books I saw and scoffed at complaints about too much repeated content. My bad for scoffing? I mean, now that I'm trying to write a review for the last book in the series, I think I have very few [i.e. zero] new points to add to the conversation. But I guess I'll say things nonetheless...

First off, let me repeat my favorite beats from prior entries. The lavish illustrations are perhaps the best part [OMG! So many beautiful illustrations are included]. So lovely! On top of that, the deeep history and consultation of old timey primary sources is also pretty awesome.

I've deleted this part of my review from previous volumes multiple times... but I guess I'm ready to leave this here now. I've really, really loved these European history of colors books. But now that he's done, I'd wish Pastoureau would throw his influence behind authors from other continents to write similar books. I can't even begin to say how much I'd love to read similar books with deep history on color from an Asian, African, or pre-colonization American perspective.

[ma_mots_et_images · Rating 5 out of 5]

Après avoir lu les ouvrages de Michel Pastoureau concernant le bleu, le noir, le vert, le rouge et le jaune, je découvre l'étude consacrée au blanc.

Cet ouvrage met l'accent sur le côté ambivalent du blanc. Longtemps considéré comme une couleur à part entière, il est désormais scientifiquement reconnu comme une "non" couleur, et pourtant, il prend une grande part dans notre univers mental.

Le blanc est d'abord synonyme de pureté, de douceur. C'est le blanc de la neige, du lys, la couleur associée aux tout petits. Mais il porte aussi son propre contraire : il a longtemps été associé au deuil, et, désormais, il représente l'aseptisé, la santé, l'hôpital, donc le contraire de la légèreté et de la lumière.

L'auteur retrace la position particulière du blanc de l'Antiquité à nos jours, dans les représentations, dans le quotidien, dans l'art, dans le vêtement même. Pendant longtemps, un tissu avait du mal à être "blanc de blanc". La modernité lui a offert une nouvelle vie, grâce au chlore, au savon, à la lessive....

Ce petit livre passionnant nous offre des dizaines d'anecdotes, qui raviront les amateurs de culture générale et les curieux tout court. Il est servi par la simplicité des propos de Michel Pastoureau, vulgarisateur de talent, qui manie une langue agréable et toujours teintée d'une belle pointe d'humour.

[Edie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The latest in a series of books on color by Michel Pastoureau, “White” is fun, informative and (dare I say it?) filled with colorful pictures. The most important lesson learned would be that white is not the absence of color, but a color on its own.

Pastoureau tells the history and use of the hue. But his vast amount of information leaves the book open to possible error. As in his other books, I questioned the accuracy of some of the claims, which makes me wonder about all of them. But my skepticism aside, you will enjoy and learn so much from “White” you should risk that chance.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this book, Michel Pastoureau concludes his series of studies of the histories of different colors, that began with Blue in 2000, and continued with Black, Red, Green, and Yellow. Pastoureau manages to provide deep scholarly context for colors, in terms of their social and psychological meanings, as well as how these have changed over time. I. Addition, each of these studies is beautiful, filled with images that help to demonstrate the author’s points. White provides a fitting end to the series, since, technically, white is the presence of all colors.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a good while since I read any of these "history of a color" volumes by the French scholar Michel Pastoureau (two further ones have been released since I last read--yellow and pink). I enjoyed this one but found its range a bit too narrow--almost all fashion, with some art. So it was a good review of some elements of European cultural history, but not as rich as some of the other volumes. And it also ended quite abruptly, with little consideration of the modern era.

So I learned a good deal, but was definitely left wanting more.

[Les75 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ottima tappa della serie sulla storia dei colori. Il bianco è un colore affascinante, difficile per lungo tempo da gestire e addirittura per diversi secoli rinnegato dal novero dei colori. Pastoureau lavora con grande puntualità e profonda conoscenza storica, aiutando e deliziando il lettore con un apparato iconografico eccellente.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very well written book by Michel Pastoureau. Did hope he would do the colour of purple but six colours is good enough and though it's the end of the series I'm glad I still have the colour green to get.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have enjoyed the other books in this series but found this one somewhat lacking & repetitive. Did appreciate the wonderful art. Otherwise, it felt as though the author was really ready to be done with the series.

[Mariia Strekerud · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5