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The Brilliant History of Color in Art
The history of art is inseparable from the history of color. And what a fascinating story they tell together: one that brims with an all-star cast of characters, eye-opening details, and unexpected detours through the annals of human civilization and scientific discovery.
Enter critically acclaimed writer and popular journalist Victoria Finlay, who here takes readers across the globe and over the centuries on an unforgettable tour through the brilliant history of color in art. Written for newcomers to the subject and aspiring young artists alike, Finlay’s quest to uncover the origins and science of color will beguile readers of all ages with its warm and conversational style. Her rich narrative is illustrated in full color throughout with 166 major works of art—most from the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Readers of this book will revel in a treasure trove of fun-filled facts and anecdotes. Were it not for Cleopatra, for instance, purple might not have become the royal color of the Western world. Without Napoleon, the black graphite pencil might never have found its way into the hands of Cézanne. Without mango-eating cows, the sunsets of Turner might have lost their shimmering glow. And were it not for the pigment cobalt blue, the halls of museums worldwide might still be filled with forged Vermeers.
Red ocher, green earth, Indian yellow, lead white—no pigment from the artist’s broad and diverse palette escapes Finlay’s shrewd eye in this breathtaking exploration.
Enter critically acclaimed writer and popular journalist Victoria Finlay, who here takes readers across the globe and over the centuries on an unforgettable tour through the brilliant history of color in art. Written for newcomers to the subject and aspiring young artists alike, Finlay’s quest to uncover the origins and science of color will beguile readers of all ages with its warm and conversational style. Her rich narrative is illustrated in full color throughout with 166 major works of art—most from the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Readers of this book will revel in a treasure trove of fun-filled facts and anecdotes. Were it not for Cleopatra, for instance, purple might not have become the royal color of the Western world. Without Napoleon, the black graphite pencil might never have found its way into the hands of Cézanne. Without mango-eating cows, the sunsets of Turner might have lost their shimmering glow. And were it not for the pigment cobalt blue, the halls of museums worldwide might still be filled with forged Vermeers.
Red ocher, green earth, Indian yellow, lead white—no pigment from the artist’s broad and diverse palette escapes Finlay’s shrewd eye in this breathtaking exploration.
120 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2014
40 people are currently reading
2627 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Finlay
7 books268 followersVictoria Finlay is a writer and journalist, known for her books on colour and jewels. Her most famous book is Colour: Travels Through The Paint Box.
(from Wikipedia)
I studied Social Anthropology at St Andrews University, Scotland and William & Mary College, Virginia, after spending time in Himalayan India, teaching in a Tibetan refugee camp and realising how amazing it was to learn about different cultures. My first job was as a management trainee with Reuters, in London and Scandinavia, but I had a dream to be a real news journalist, writing about people’s lives at times of drama and trauma. So I left to study journalism for a three month diploma at the London College of Printing.
When I was there, being told just how hard it would be to find a job, a fellow student asked me where, if I could choose any newspaper or magazine in the world, I would most like to work. I still remember the street we were walking along in south London, as my answer, quite unplanned, would change my life. I said: “Hong Kong, South China Morning Post, during the Handover”. At that time I had neither visited Hong Kong nor ever read The South China Morning Post. However, I had spoken my wish, so I applied as an intern, and spent the next 12 years in Hong Kong writing for The Hong Kong Standard, RTHK (briefly) and finally The South China Morning Post, as news reporter, then arts editor.
I left to fulfil another wish, which was to write a book about where colours came from – a subject that had interested me ever since I was eight years old and heard that we could no longer make the beautiful blue glass of Chartres Cathedral. Two years later, in 2002, that was published as Colour, Travels through the Paintbox, by Sceptre (and Color: the Natural History of the Palette, by Ballantine in the US). My second book, Jewels: A Secret History, followed in 2004. Since then I have returned to the UK, got married (the two were connected), and have spent the past few years working on development programmes (another wish) with my husband, through his charity, ARC. And now I am venturing – very, very slowly – into the world of fiction-writing. In April 2014 my first published short story was published in a book called The Stories of the Stranger: a reimagining of some of the stories that just about every religion and community has, about looking after people you don’t know. In 2014 my book The Brilliant History of Color in Art was published by Getty Publications in LA, and was named the Huffington Post’s top art book for that year.
One of the surprising things that writing the books led me to was being invited onto the BBC Radio 4 programme The Museum of Curiosities a couple of years ago. On the pilot I talked about purple, and then in the first series I was asked to propose Pliny the Elder (I have a thing about Pliny the Elder) to be one of the first entries into the Museum of Curiosity. I give lots of talks, and write for several publications including Orion, Apollo, The Independent, The Smithsonian Magazine and The South China Morning Post.
(from Wikipedia)
I studied Social Anthropology at St Andrews University, Scotland and William & Mary College, Virginia, after spending time in Himalayan India, teaching in a Tibetan refugee camp and realising how amazing it was to learn about different cultures. My first job was as a management trainee with Reuters, in London and Scandinavia, but I had a dream to be a real news journalist, writing about people’s lives at times of drama and trauma. So I left to study journalism for a three month diploma at the London College of Printing.
When I was there, being told just how hard it would be to find a job, a fellow student asked me where, if I could choose any newspaper or magazine in the world, I would most like to work. I still remember the street we were walking along in south London, as my answer, quite unplanned, would change my life. I said: “Hong Kong, South China Morning Post, during the Handover”. At that time I had neither visited Hong Kong nor ever read The South China Morning Post. However, I had spoken my wish, so I applied as an intern, and spent the next 12 years in Hong Kong writing for The Hong Kong Standard, RTHK (briefly) and finally The South China Morning Post, as news reporter, then arts editor.
I left to fulfil another wish, which was to write a book about where colours came from – a subject that had interested me ever since I was eight years old and heard that we could no longer make the beautiful blue glass of Chartres Cathedral. Two years later, in 2002, that was published as Colour, Travels through the Paintbox, by Sceptre (and Color: the Natural History of the Palette, by Ballantine in the US). My second book, Jewels: A Secret History, followed in 2004. Since then I have returned to the UK, got married (the two were connected), and have spent the past few years working on development programmes (another wish) with my husband, through his charity, ARC. And now I am venturing – very, very slowly – into the world of fiction-writing. In April 2014 my first published short story was published in a book called The Stories of the Stranger: a reimagining of some of the stories that just about every religion and community has, about looking after people you don’t know. In 2014 my book The Brilliant History of Color in Art was published by Getty Publications in LA, and was named the Huffington Post’s top art book for that year.
One of the surprising things that writing the books led me to was being invited onto the BBC Radio 4 programme The Museum of Curiosities a couple of years ago. On the pilot I talked about purple, and then in the first series I was asked to propose Pliny the Elder (I have a thing about Pliny the Elder) to be one of the first entries into the Museum of Curiosity. I give lots of talks, and write for several publications including Orion, Apollo, The Independent, The Smithsonian Magazine and The South China Morning Post.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
July 27, 2015
When I saw the Turner exhibit at the Getty a couple of months ago, I wondered what pigments were actually on his palette. There were intense reds and yellows, but I knew that his work predated the introduction of cadmium pigments. So what exactly did he use? I hoped that Finlay's The Brilliant History of Color in Art would answer this and many other questions I had about color. This little book missed a few marks.
First off, this book is a distillation of a much longer book of Finlay's: Color: A Natural History of the Palette. The Brilliant History of Color in Art reminds me a bit those DK Eyewitness books that have such attractive page layouts that you don't notice the weakness of the content. This book has lovely art direction, and interesting facts, but some odd continuity, tangents, and omissions. She discusses red ocher in the middle of her section on cochineal rather than the section of ocher pigments. In the section about cad. yellow, she tells about Kandinsky and his development as an artist and then mentions that he used cadmium pigments. I would have liked a bit more information about cadmium, itself (though not a high school chemistry lesson). I would have also liked to have seen more discussion on lake pigments. And what exactly is green earth?
But in spite of this, I liked the book. I learned quite a bit of information even if it was sometimes different from I was expecting. Case in point, I've used the color wheel most of my life, but never knew its origin. The invention of paint tubes was another piece of the puzzle. I really enjoyed the discussion of Prussian blue and its effect on Ukiyo-e. Not a masterpiece (unless you count the page design), but worth a read.
First off, this book is a distillation of a much longer book of Finlay's: Color: A Natural History of the Palette. The Brilliant History of Color in Art reminds me a bit those DK Eyewitness books that have such attractive page layouts that you don't notice the weakness of the content. This book has lovely art direction, and interesting facts, but some odd continuity, tangents, and omissions. She discusses red ocher in the middle of her section on cochineal rather than the section of ocher pigments. In the section about cad. yellow, she tells about Kandinsky and his development as an artist and then mentions that he used cadmium pigments. I would have liked a bit more information about cadmium, itself (though not a high school chemistry lesson). I would have also liked to have seen more discussion on lake pigments. And what exactly is green earth?
But in spite of this, I liked the book. I learned quite a bit of information even if it was sometimes different from I was expecting. Case in point, I've used the color wheel most of my life, but never knew its origin. The invention of paint tubes was another piece of the puzzle. I really enjoyed the discussion of Prussian blue and its effect on Ukiyo-e. Not a masterpiece (unless you count the page design), but worth a read.
July 31, 2018
Short, and often fascinating, stories of the origins and uses of pigments and dyes. (They aren't the same thing.) I learned all sorts of random trivia that will make me the life of the party, if I ever get invited to any parties. (Please don't invite me to any parties!)
I already knew that the red color in my Negroni cocktail comes from crushed insects. But I had no idea that paintings called "miniatures" are called that not because they are small, but because of the "minium" red pigment, or that one of Rothko's all-red paintings has turned blue after exposure to sunlight. I knew that some popular brown dyes used to be made from gound-up Egyptian mummies. But I didn't know that ultramarine blue is called that because it comes from "beyond the sea", or that the Virgin Mary is often painted in blue because it was expensive and she's worth it. I knew you could make a white pigment from lead or titanium and that the lead version is poisonous. But didn't know that artists still wish they could use the lead version because it twinkles. I knew that mauve was the first synthetic dye. I hadn't known the extent of the trade, or that the pigment trade was as lucrative and important in the old days as the spice trade.
In short, whatever you already know, you'll likely learn something here. Short, and lavishly illustrated. My only complaint is that there is no list of sources for the presented facts. I'd like to follow-up on some of the claims.
I already knew that the red color in my Negroni cocktail comes from crushed insects. But I had no idea that paintings called "miniatures" are called that not because they are small, but because of the "minium" red pigment, or that one of Rothko's all-red paintings has turned blue after exposure to sunlight. I knew that some popular brown dyes used to be made from gound-up Egyptian mummies. But I didn't know that ultramarine blue is called that because it comes from "beyond the sea", or that the Virgin Mary is often painted in blue because it was expensive and she's worth it. I knew you could make a white pigment from lead or titanium and that the lead version is poisonous. But didn't know that artists still wish they could use the lead version because it twinkles. I knew that mauve was the first synthetic dye. I hadn't known the extent of the trade, or that the pigment trade was as lucrative and important in the old days as the spice trade.
In short, whatever you already know, you'll likely learn something here. Short, and lavishly illustrated. My only complaint is that there is no list of sources for the presented facts. I'd like to follow-up on some of the claims.
February 9, 2015
A fun read, and educational in a haphazard sort of way. Not the most organized book ever - it's clear Finlay was more interested in sharing amusing anecdotes than giving a comprehensive history of colors. Worth reading though. Probably simple enough for middle-grade kids to digest, and the super short chapters make it easy to set down and pick up again.
February 2, 2016
An utterly fascinating and engaging read, I would recommend this to artists and non-artists alike. Also, I want to know what is up with humanity that our thought process immediately goes to, I wonder what would happen if we peed on it? And voila! A new color is born.
January 5, 2017
Really interesting, informative, and with great illustrations.
May 29, 2017
I loved this book. It's made up of short essays. Like a coffee table book. If I was teaching, it would be a great book to read a chapter each day, and spur a discussion among the students. It's written in a more conversational style, easy to understand and fascinating.
Yes, I loved the author's 'Color: A natural history of the palette.'
Yes, I loved the author's 'Color: A natural history of the palette.'
July 20, 2019
Fun and fascinating! Finlay is both engaging and accessible, with a gorgeous selection of artworks to match her commentary. My only complaint is that sometimes the formatting interrupted the book's flow, cutting off sentences and paragraphs with full pages of side content, but even with those flaws I quite loved the book. This is a recommended read for anyone who has any interest in art or art history.
October 16, 2018
A quick read to get a new perspective when looking at art.
December 24, 2021
This book is full of all sorts of interesting tid-bits on back stories of various colors as they've been developed and used in art, organized chronologically.
June 6, 2023
Fascinating book about painting and color and where those color come from. So good!
May 19, 2025
Deeply enjoyable, full of interesting stories from the history of colour in art
January 15, 2021
En mycket trevlig liten bok om hur olika populära färgpigment framställts och använts under historien. Den har små söta historier, och trevliga illustrationer. Jag har lärt mig mer av den än vad som är bekvämt att medge. Rekommenderas för hobbykonstnärer och allmänhistoriker.
December 8, 2014
I nabbed this book on NetGalley because, hello, COLORS! This is a pretty great book if you want to know the history of how different color pigments came about in artwork over the centuries. It goes through all the different colors and discusses their origins, where they were originally used, how they were created, and how they were used in art. It also contains a LOT of pictures so you can place the colors and techniques more visually. I loved the addition of special tidbits about the various colors; factoids beyond just their uses in art. It’s also a wonderful companion to read alongside Color Song, since many of the colors mentioned in that book are explained and visualized here! The e-galley formatting was a bit troublesome for me, since it showed each (extra-wide) two-page spread at a time, but I know it’s going to be a gorgeous hardcover that I’d love to add to my shelves.
April 26, 2016
This truly is a brilliant book--lovely to look at and full of scads of fascinating, colorful facts. Having only taken one formal Art Appreciation class during my undergrad, I had so much fun learning more about the history of various colors and the progression of art on the whole. Absolutely recommended for a short and sweet trip into the lively world of color.
***
This fulfills the microhistory component of the 2015 Read Harder Challenge.
***
This fulfills the microhistory component of the 2015 Read Harder Challenge.
May 11, 2016
Fascinating! Finlay's writing style is approachable, engaging, and also very scholarly. The color reproductions are wonderful and help to really enhance the discussion of different colors, pigments, dyes, etc. A must-read for any art historian, artist, or lover of color.
November 21, 2015
Counting as my microhistory for the Book Riot Read Harder challenge.
January 10, 2016
Very interesting and engaging read, although some of the entries seemed a bit scattered. Overall I really enjoyed this and I learned a few new things.
August 1, 2016
Interesting. I enjoy finding out about the origins of the colors we used and continue to use.
February 12, 2015
It’s pointless for me to attempt words for the visual masterpiece that I see in this book. The photos are excellent, sure, but not difficult to find through a bit of Internet research. Combine these illustrations with the layout and text, flowing in a chronological stream throughout the technological developments of mankind in history as portrayed through artistic works, and I MUST HAVE THIS IN MY LIBRARY!!! Better yet, I’d like to see it in every school and public library, and watch what happens in those communities.
Although it appears to be intended for the YA market, I know that 6-year old me would’ve spent a lot of time in these pages; likewise, this aging art school wannabe. The language may be simple, yet the thoughts are universal, sometimes philosophical, and occasionally profound.
For instance, we’re reminded in the first segment of the first chapter, deep inside of the caves of Lascaux, “And this is another element of the history of colors in art: they are there, and then they go. They do not stay the same, and when you look at a painting, you’re also, in a tiny way, changing it.”
There are unabashed statements of the obvious; so important, and so often overlooked that I appreciate the reminder: “Today it’s easy to bunch together ancient Rome, ancient Greece and ancient Egypt as all being rather, well, ancient. But for Theophrastos, ancient Egypt was almost as long ago, and just about as hard to imagine, as classical Greece is for us today. Egyptian blue was invented in about 2200 BC, when the Great Pyramids were built, so around 1900 years before Theophrastos was writing about it in Athens.”
The informative text boxes pack a punch, too! “Red Ocher and Dying Stars?” Out of this world!
Reading about viewing early Renaissance gold-leafed painting by flickering candlelight made me woozy. Such divine decadence! I want that, too!
Please tell me, this mention of the “Turnsole,” is this the common Provençal Tournesol or in Italian “Girasol”, or the English “sunflower?” Here’s a simple experiment waiting to happen. Does the pigment of modern sunflower oil change depending on what it’s mixed with?
Talking of pigments in food, I was reminded of a birthday cake I made for schoolchildren in my daughter’s class way back when. Rainbow cake was simple to make and a treat for the eyes; I divided the batter into 7 portions, added a few drops of food coloring brought from USA to each, and then marbled the batter. I couldn’t believe that 5-year old children were frightened to eat this cake! Food is not supposed to be those colors—she must be trying to poison us! Maybe it’s even more surprising that the French, so proud of their culinary savoir faire, have now taking a liking to cake decorating à la americaine. Are we witnessing a new movement in edible art—can colors be good to eat as well as see, smell, and touch?
In another multi-cultural moment, it’s worth mention that before the advent of pre-mixed paints from the art supply shop, colorists would buy their pigments from the pharmacy—in Britain, still referred to as the chemist. Regrets from my frittered youth, I wish I’d paid attention in chemistry class. The prisms were fascinating, but I missed so much life-enhancing lessons on the chemical reactions of pigments and colors. Luckily for us, the great modern artists were applying their knowledge, and Finlay shows us how.
I appreciate the great irony of IKB (International Klein Blue) as an attempt to recreate the scarcity equal to Renaissance ultramarine and gold in a modern world where paint colors were no longer unique and priceless. This book serves to make the colors special despite our wealth of information. Surrounded by a world of color, we can increase our enjoyment and appreciation through developing our understanding.
The contents:
1) Earth and Fire
• Manganese Black: Art in the Ice Age
• Red Ocher: The Sacred and Dangerous in Australia
• Egyptian Blue: King Tut’s Infrared Transmitter
• Greek White: The Myth of the White City
• Yellow Ochre: Apelles and Slime
2) Rocks, Minerals, Twigs, and Bugs
• Tyrian Purple: Cleopatra’s Royal Color
• Cinnabar, Vermillion, and Minium: Beautiful but Deadly
• Black Ink: Who Needs Color Anyway?
• Gold: Medieval Radiance
• Green Earth: Unearthly Undertones
• The Age of Canvas: Painting on Sails
• Ultramarine: From the Valley of the Stone
• Cochineal: A New World Color in Art (and Your Lunch)
• Logwood Black: Puritans and Pirates
• Cobalt: Blue at the Scene of the Crime
• Lead White: The Enchantress
• Indigo: Girl Power in South Carolina
• Gainsborough Blue: Never Use Blue in the Center
• Rose: Madame Pompadour’s Luxurious Pink
• Light: And the Age of Enlightenment
• Titian Blue: Simply Unbelievable
• Indian Yellow: Turner, Cows, and Mangoes
• Madder Red: Inventing the Color Wheel
• Graphite: Pencil Lead is Not Lead
• Mummy Brown: Funeral for Pharaohs
3) Modern Colors
• Mauve: Chemistry Project Gone Wrong
• Prussian Blue: The Blue That was Supposed to be Red
• Emerald Green: The Mystery of the Poisonous Wallpaper
• Black and White and Sepia: What You Can’t See in Photographs
• Manganese Violet: Monet Goes Outside
• Chrome Yellow: Color from Siberia
• Patent Blue, Tartrazine, and Rose Bengal: Mix with Potatoes for Delicious Color
• Cadmium Yellow: Listening to Colors with Kandinsky
• Lithol Red: Endless Journey of the Eye
• International Klein Blue: This Is Not Your Blue
• Orange 36 and Violet 19: Lichtenstein and the Rise of the Superheroes
• Painting with Light: Pixels as Pigment
Illustration List, Index, and Acknowledgments.
Discussion questions for reading groups and classrooms and other resources are available at < www.getty.edu/publications >
< http://victoriafinlay.com >
Victoria Finlay studied Social Anthropology at St Andrews University, Scotland and William & Mary College, Virginia, after a stay in India. Her first job was in management with Reuters, which induced her to study journalism at the London College of Printing. That led to an impromptu transition into an internship with the South China Morning Post, during the Handover of Hong Kong. The next 12 years were spent writing for The Hong Kong Standard, RTHK (briefly) and finally The South China Morning Post, as news reporter, then arts editor.
She left to write a book about dyes and pigments, “a subject that had interested me ever since I had heard that we could no longer make the beautiful blue glass of Chartres Cathedral” [Me, too!] that was published two years later as Colour, Travels through the Paintbox in 2002. Jewels: A Secret History followed in 2004. Since returning to the UK and marrying (the two were connected [as they often are]), she works on charitable ARC development programs with her husband. Currently she is writing fiction, with her first published short story was published in a book called The Stories of the Stranger in April 2014.
Although it appears to be intended for the YA market, I know that 6-year old me would’ve spent a lot of time in these pages; likewise, this aging art school wannabe. The language may be simple, yet the thoughts are universal, sometimes philosophical, and occasionally profound.
For instance, we’re reminded in the first segment of the first chapter, deep inside of the caves of Lascaux, “And this is another element of the history of colors in art: they are there, and then they go. They do not stay the same, and when you look at a painting, you’re also, in a tiny way, changing it.”
There are unabashed statements of the obvious; so important, and so often overlooked that I appreciate the reminder: “Today it’s easy to bunch together ancient Rome, ancient Greece and ancient Egypt as all being rather, well, ancient. But for Theophrastos, ancient Egypt was almost as long ago, and just about as hard to imagine, as classical Greece is for us today. Egyptian blue was invented in about 2200 BC, when the Great Pyramids were built, so around 1900 years before Theophrastos was writing about it in Athens.”
The informative text boxes pack a punch, too! “Red Ocher and Dying Stars?” Out of this world!
Reading about viewing early Renaissance gold-leafed painting by flickering candlelight made me woozy. Such divine decadence! I want that, too!
Please tell me, this mention of the “Turnsole,” is this the common Provençal Tournesol or in Italian “Girasol”, or the English “sunflower?” Here’s a simple experiment waiting to happen. Does the pigment of modern sunflower oil change depending on what it’s mixed with?
Talking of pigments in food, I was reminded of a birthday cake I made for schoolchildren in my daughter’s class way back when. Rainbow cake was simple to make and a treat for the eyes; I divided the batter into 7 portions, added a few drops of food coloring brought from USA to each, and then marbled the batter. I couldn’t believe that 5-year old children were frightened to eat this cake! Food is not supposed to be those colors—she must be trying to poison us! Maybe it’s even more surprising that the French, so proud of their culinary savoir faire, have now taking a liking to cake decorating à la americaine. Are we witnessing a new movement in edible art—can colors be good to eat as well as see, smell, and touch?
In another multi-cultural moment, it’s worth mention that before the advent of pre-mixed paints from the art supply shop, colorists would buy their pigments from the pharmacy—in Britain, still referred to as the chemist. Regrets from my frittered youth, I wish I’d paid attention in chemistry class. The prisms were fascinating, but I missed so much life-enhancing lessons on the chemical reactions of pigments and colors. Luckily for us, the great modern artists were applying their knowledge, and Finlay shows us how.
I appreciate the great irony of IKB (International Klein Blue) as an attempt to recreate the scarcity equal to Renaissance ultramarine and gold in a modern world where paint colors were no longer unique and priceless. This book serves to make the colors special despite our wealth of information. Surrounded by a world of color, we can increase our enjoyment and appreciation through developing our understanding.
The contents:
1) Earth and Fire
• Manganese Black: Art in the Ice Age
• Red Ocher: The Sacred and Dangerous in Australia
• Egyptian Blue: King Tut’s Infrared Transmitter
• Greek White: The Myth of the White City
• Yellow Ochre: Apelles and Slime
2) Rocks, Minerals, Twigs, and Bugs
• Tyrian Purple: Cleopatra’s Royal Color
• Cinnabar, Vermillion, and Minium: Beautiful but Deadly
• Black Ink: Who Needs Color Anyway?
• Gold: Medieval Radiance
• Green Earth: Unearthly Undertones
• The Age of Canvas: Painting on Sails
• Ultramarine: From the Valley of the Stone
• Cochineal: A New World Color in Art (and Your Lunch)
• Logwood Black: Puritans and Pirates
• Cobalt: Blue at the Scene of the Crime
• Lead White: The Enchantress
• Indigo: Girl Power in South Carolina
• Gainsborough Blue: Never Use Blue in the Center
• Rose: Madame Pompadour’s Luxurious Pink
• Light: And the Age of Enlightenment
• Titian Blue: Simply Unbelievable
• Indian Yellow: Turner, Cows, and Mangoes
• Madder Red: Inventing the Color Wheel
• Graphite: Pencil Lead is Not Lead
• Mummy Brown: Funeral for Pharaohs
3) Modern Colors
• Mauve: Chemistry Project Gone Wrong
• Prussian Blue: The Blue That was Supposed to be Red
• Emerald Green: The Mystery of the Poisonous Wallpaper
• Black and White and Sepia: What You Can’t See in Photographs
• Manganese Violet: Monet Goes Outside
• Chrome Yellow: Color from Siberia
• Patent Blue, Tartrazine, and Rose Bengal: Mix with Potatoes for Delicious Color
• Cadmium Yellow: Listening to Colors with Kandinsky
• Lithol Red: Endless Journey of the Eye
• International Klein Blue: This Is Not Your Blue
• Orange 36 and Violet 19: Lichtenstein and the Rise of the Superheroes
• Painting with Light: Pixels as Pigment
Illustration List, Index, and Acknowledgments.
Discussion questions for reading groups and classrooms and other resources are available at < www.getty.edu/publications >
< http://victoriafinlay.com >
Victoria Finlay studied Social Anthropology at St Andrews University, Scotland and William & Mary College, Virginia, after a stay in India. Her first job was in management with Reuters, which induced her to study journalism at the London College of Printing. That led to an impromptu transition into an internship with the South China Morning Post, during the Handover of Hong Kong. The next 12 years were spent writing for The Hong Kong Standard, RTHK (briefly) and finally The South China Morning Post, as news reporter, then arts editor.
She left to write a book about dyes and pigments, “a subject that had interested me ever since I had heard that we could no longer make the beautiful blue glass of Chartres Cathedral” [Me, too!] that was published two years later as Colour, Travels through the Paintbox in 2002. Jewels: A Secret History followed in 2004. Since returning to the UK and marrying (the two were connected [as they often are]), she works on charitable ARC development programs with her husband. Currently she is writing fiction, with her first published short story was published in a book called The Stories of the Stranger in April 2014.
November 29, 2016
A book I randomly picked up off the library shelf and ended up loving. This is a beautifully illustrated, meticulously written book about the history of pigments and dyes, and their surprising intersections with the world at large. It's reminiscent of those micro-histories that were popular a few years back.
There's an interesting story on every page. Napoleon might have been poisoned by the arsenic-laden green paint in his home. The creation of a European equivalent to Chinese porcelain (Meissenware) contributed to the disgust with excess that led to the French Revolution. Van Gogh once ate a tube of yellow paint (which, like many paints back in the day, contained lead and was thus highly toxic.) Chevreul discovered the Law of Contrast of Colors while investigating why red-dyed fabric looked dull on costly French tapestries (because of the colors it was juxtaposed with.) The manufacture of Tyrean Purple, the purple of Roman togas, was so foul-smelling (it involved steeping in rotting shellfish and urine) that it had to be done well outside of towns.
This would be a great gift for any art student or anyone with an interest in art. It's a great book to have on your art shelf to read and re-read or to use as a reference. The painting reproductions are gorgeous.
This is a survey of the history of color, not a painting how-to guide, although you will learn some bibs and bobs about painting technique and color theory.
There's an interesting story on every page. Napoleon might have been poisoned by the arsenic-laden green paint in his home. The creation of a European equivalent to Chinese porcelain (Meissenware) contributed to the disgust with excess that led to the French Revolution. Van Gogh once ate a tube of yellow paint (which, like many paints back in the day, contained lead and was thus highly toxic.) Chevreul discovered the Law of Contrast of Colors while investigating why red-dyed fabric looked dull on costly French tapestries (because of the colors it was juxtaposed with.) The manufacture of Tyrean Purple, the purple of Roman togas, was so foul-smelling (it involved steeping in rotting shellfish and urine) that it had to be done well outside of towns.
This would be a great gift for any art student or anyone with an interest in art. It's a great book to have on your art shelf to read and re-read or to use as a reference. The painting reproductions are gorgeous.
This is a survey of the history of color, not a painting how-to guide, although you will learn some bibs and bobs about painting technique and color theory.
May 19, 2023
This is an artist and an art nerd writing this, so take this review with a grain of salt....perhaps this sort of history is not interesting to you..but....this is a marvelous tale of the creation of, use of and development of art pigments. From Egyptian blue, which glows under fluorescent light (who knew) to mummy brown (yes, it is made from ground up mummies and was sold as a paint until 1925) to mauve, a chemistry accident (he was supposed to be making a cure for malaria from coal tar) which started a craze, "mauve measles" that even Queen Victoria succumbed to when Albert died, to the sinister story of baby and pet killing beautiful Scheele's green, a favorite for wallpaper, which may have contributed to Napoleon's death, this is a fascinating collection of art history.
Last note: Lead white was banned in the US in 1977. I think there is still a tube in my mother's paint box I know she used it. I use titanium white now.
Last note: Lead white was banned in the US in 1977. I think there is still a tube in my mother's paint box I know she used it. I use titanium white now.
July 10, 2017
While I really enjoyed the content and information this book provided, the layout was a bit confusing. The book was divided into 3 main sections, basically: ancient times, postmodern, and modern. Victoria then covers select colours in each section, in no particular order and only colours that have stories. Not to mention, they weren’t always time appropriate and she’d often briefly mention other colours that were actually from a completely different timeframe. I feel like the book should have been broken up into more sections, each beginning with a brief list of all pigments/dyes known to be created during that time and what their basic ingredients were, followed by the stories for the ones that had stories to keep things less confusing as to what happened when while also providing a more thorough and concise list of what was first used when.
September 4, 2024
One of my favorite types of books, an effortless, enjoyable read that leaves me far more learned than I began. This beautiful book, both in images and layout, walks the reader through colors used in art; when they were developed, how they were obtained, when were they were popular, who used them, etc. Our modern world is a splendor in synthetic dyes, the least (and youngest) among us can ty-dye with abandon. We're far removed from piercing a pig's bladder full of pigment--while hoping the whole dern thing doesn't rupture. This book gave this thoroughly unartistic reader a MUCH deeper appreciation for artists' devotion to their craft over the millennia and did not further my respect for the modern art movement.
July 1, 2024
Interesting overall, although it definitely skims the surface throughout. Each color gets only a couple pages of discussion, which is usually sufficient but sometimes proves too brief. What most baffled/annoyed me was how the author would sometimes introduce a color but spend more time talking about a particular artist who used it instead of elaborating on the discovery, sourcing, and manufacturing of said color. I guess I was expecting this book to be a bit more "sciency". But there are still tons of interesting facts and some fascinating anecdotes, making it a breezy and moderately educational read.
April 17, 2019
This is an amazing book that combines history, art, and science into one dynamic, educational and intriguing narrative. Have you ever looked at the little tubes of paint for sale in hobby stores? Prussian blue, cadmium yellow, emerald green? These are the stories of these colors, their relatives, and their predecessors. I'd highly recommend for everybody from the non-artist school student to the artist who's been painting for years but doesn't necessarily know the history of what's on their palette. An engaging trip from Neolithic times to the modern day of computer art.
February 11, 2021
Stunningly beautiful, colorful and glossy non-fiction book. Each double-page describes how a paint or dye color was invented. Includes chemistry, physics, science, and history, as well as stories and biographies. Also includes reprints of paintings, portraits, photos, etc. The extra-wide format makes it even more attractive. It is a little difficult to read because each 2-page description of a color is unconnected to the next color. Their is a lack of continuity from color to color which makes it a bit of a slog to get through. Reading one or two colors a day is a good way to do it.
April 19, 2021
A very good start on learning where artists' paint colors and dyes came from before artificial colors were invented. Going back to cave art and coming up to modern times. Where the pigments come from, how they're turned into usable paints or dyes, when and how they were discovered, how they affect commerce and trade. Some of them are actually poisonous.
Chapters are organized under the headings: Earth and Fire; Rocks, Minerals, Twigs, and Bugs; Modern Colors. Lots of lovely pictures so it's not as detailed as many might wish.
Chapters are organized under the headings: Earth and Fire; Rocks, Minerals, Twigs, and Bugs; Modern Colors. Lots of lovely pictures so it's not as detailed as many might wish.
September 19, 2020
Holy Smoke, this was a fun read and a beautiful book.
If you jumped in your time travel machine, what colors would be available to you when? You could answer that question with this sorta-coffee-table book (in size a little small, but the interior art and illustrations are fabulous).
Victoria clearly knows a lot about history and about art and the history of art and artists AND is a talented story teller.
If you jumped in your time travel machine, what colors would be available to you when? You could answer that question with this sorta-coffee-table book (in size a little small, but the interior art and illustrations are fabulous).
Victoria clearly knows a lot about history and about art and the history of art and artists AND is a talented story teller.
March 21, 2018
What a wonderful book! This slim volume is a treasure chest of fascinating facts about how we got the colors we now take for granted every day. It's a fun read if you're interested in color, history, or art. The chronological format works well, as it includes many fine works of art which show the essential colors as they were first used by artists.
July 8, 2021
Fun book. Great graphics. One of many books I've read about the history of pigments. There are of course the full range of toxic pigments, and then the pigments that artists loved but do not survive the passage of time, and then lastly the ones that conservators hate not that they fade, but rather did other unpredictable things. Learned some new things about the history of pigments.
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