The Book of Colour Concepts

by Alexandra Loske

The earliest forms of human creativity – in carvings, markings, and cave paintings – bear witness to humanity’s engagement with color. Almost as old as these examples is the desire to assign structure, order, and meaning to this universal yet elusive concept, and it is this fascination that unites the works compiled in this expansive edition.

Gathering over 40 rare books and manuscripts from a wealth of institutions, including the most distinguished color collections worldwide, The Book of Colour Concepts takes the reader on a chromatic odyssey across four centuries and over 350 images of luscious wheels and globes, painstakingly collated charts, and meticulous diagrams, many of them newly photographed exclusively for this edition.

Seminal works of color theory, such as Isaac Newton’s Opticks and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s hugely significant Zur Farbenlehre, are shown alongside rare and unfamiliar contributions, including the theosophical color systems of Charles Webster Leadbeater and Annie Besant, the comprehensive color ‘dictionary’ of Aloys John Maerz and Morris Rea Paul, and the patchwork combinations of the Japanese costume designer and artist Sanzō Wada.

This volume also brings many intriguing and often overlooked works by women into the spotlight, including the radically inventive color “blots” of the English flower painter Mary Gartside.

The color systems that make up this edition are contextualized by an introductory essay from Alexandra Loske, while authoritative texts on the works reproduced set out each concept in further detail. Illuminating the history of color in all its shapes and forms, The Book of Colour Concepts offers a chromatic chronology unparalleled in scope.

Genres: Art, Art History, Nonfiction

512 pages, Hardcover

Published July 10, 2025

Reviews

[Margit Keerdo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over 40 works and 400 years of colour theory in one book. Each chapter offers overviews of publications with some background information about the author and a summary of the theory. Lots of beautiful illustrations and colour charts. The book is in three languages (English, German and French) which I didn’t realise in the store as the book was wrapped in plastic. Doesn’t go deep into each of the theories but is a good guide to original sources of colour theory.

[Stamen Parushev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overview about the publications during the centuries about colour theory. I guess this is shorter version of the bigger book, and there are not so much illustrations about some interesting authors while there are more about not so interesting ones (at least for me). Overall it is inspiring book about colours.

[Synthetic Vox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it would be a book of color theory and concepts, but it is actually a book that gives a brief description of various books about color from the very late 1600s to about 1960. Beautiful, and a wonderful walk through color writing, but I know quite literally nothing about color even after reading it cover to cover!