Color in Contemporary Painting: Integrating Practice and Theory

by Charles Le Clair

John Charles Le Clair as he takes an in-depth look at the many ways color can be used, with examples of work by Milton Avery, Janet Fish, Richard Diebenkorn, Hans Hofman, Helen Frankenthaler, Jasper Johns, Wolf Kahn, Robert Rauschenberg, Harriet Shorr, Frank Stella, Wayne Thiebaud, and other artists whose style and subject matter cover a wide spectrum.

Genres: Art, Reference, Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Rachel Swearingen]

I fell a little in love with Charles LeClair while reading this book. His descriptions of the various paintings he uses as examples are both sensitive and wise, and if anything I learned to see a little better through reading this book. I love that he uses all different kinds of paintings and painters, and is not beholden to one school or style. This is a truly lovely and useful book, and I find myself already rereading it and turning its pages to study the paintings. I'm not much of a painter, but I'm able to follow much of his more complicated explanations of color theory and history because his language is so accessible and his joy of painting so apparent.

Here's just one random paragraph lifted from somewhere in the middle of the book:

"The Philadelphia painter Frank Galuszka, for instance, says he likes manganese violet because "it makes the canvas look like space," whereas traditional ochre and read earth grounds "look like substance and seem impenetrable." In his canvas /Drift/, shown here in both the final and an early state, we see how painting "into" a suggestive ground colr can be a strategy for releasing the imagination. Though he has a strong feeling for structure, Galuszka is, above all, an intuitive painter [...]. Thus he likes to cover his first sketch with an impressionistic veil of color through which he can visualize figures and objects as if in a luminous fog. Then, as bits and pieces of the picture are brought to life, the fog gradually lifts upon a scene that may very well offer visual surprises."

[Sharon Robinson]

I savored every page. This is the best book I've found yet about understanding the use of color. It's not a how to at all. Instead the author shows how others have successfully used color in their own works. While this book's examples may seem outdated (it was published in the 1980's) his examples and discussion are very indepth and informative. I highly recommend this for any student of color who wants to get beyond, "this is a complementary color scheme..."

[Anya Ballinger]

I really struggle to understand the depths of color theory. If only I had a better understanding, I think my paintings would turn out much better.

[Anne]

Gives wonderful context and examples to colour theory, which makes it much more readable than other books on the subject.

[Matt Lennert]

One of the most helpful and important books I have ever read as an artist. All painters should hunt this book down and absorb it.