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lajacquerie's review against another edition
4.0
If you want an intro to how interesting color can be, this is a good—and good-looking—place to start.
Kassia St. Clair took a series of column's that she wrote for Elle Decoration and turned them into this book, which offers bite-sized historical and cultural reflections on a number of colors. You'll read about the chemical composition of colors (and why emerald green, for a time, was accused of murdering Napoleon), some sartorial scoops ("scarlet" was originally a type of cloth—fine and affordable only to the rich, who frequently dyed it in similarly sought-after colors, like the deep, saturated red that we now associate it with), and if you're like me, you'll never forget what hue "puce" is again (it's taken from an insulting description that Louis XVI lobbed at Marie Antoinette's new dress, which he found to be "flea-colored").
Could be a book-book or a coffee-table book, but either way it's a pretty good book. And St. Clair knows her stuff, including some helpful references for those who want to go deeper (including that master of color, Michel Pastoureau, more than once).
Kassia St. Clair took a series of column's that she wrote for Elle Decoration and turned them into this book, which offers bite-sized historical and cultural reflections on a number of colors. You'll read about the chemical composition of colors (and why emerald green, for a time, was accused of murdering Napoleon), some sartorial scoops ("scarlet" was originally a type of cloth—fine and affordable only to the rich, who frequently dyed it in similarly sought-after colors, like the deep, saturated red that we now associate it with), and if you're like me, you'll never forget what hue "puce" is again (it's taken from an insulting description that Louis XVI lobbed at Marie Antoinette's new dress, which he found to be "flea-colored").
Could be a book-book or a coffee-table book, but either way it's a pretty good book. And St. Clair knows her stuff, including some helpful references for those who want to go deeper (including that master of color, Michel Pastoureau, more than once).
jennyoo's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
4.25
madam_cyn's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Mind blowing book on the history of colours. Fascinating vignettes on different aspects of colours and their cultural meaning.
erboe501's review against another edition
4.0
This is a punchy, eye-pleasing gift book. Most of the information about individual colors I've already forgotten, especially the entries that were technical about production. Without any anecdotal flavor, nothing stuck in my head.
But I'm left with some general outlines and understandings about the color world. How use of color has been restricted in various ways throughout history; precious colors for nobility only, Chinese emperors hiding shades from public view, medieval bans on mixing colors. Many colors chemically engineered in labs were discovered by accident. What we mean when we call a certain shade a color has changed over time, as does the popularity of colors (mauve was super popular with Queen Victoria, but has since carried pretty old-lady connotations). I much preferred the entries that related the historical arc of a color's use, or how they fell in and out of favor with artists, how they stood up over time against the elements. I'm also left with an impression about how unsafe so many mixed colors were throughout history, poisonous to the humans who used them.
But I'm left with some general outlines and understandings about the color world. How use of color has been restricted in various ways throughout history; precious colors for nobility only, Chinese emperors hiding shades from public view, medieval bans on mixing colors. Many colors chemically engineered in labs were discovered by accident. What we mean when we call a certain shade a color has changed over time, as does the popularity of colors (mauve was super popular with Queen Victoria, but has since carried pretty old-lady connotations). I much preferred the entries that related the historical arc of a color's use, or how they fell in and out of favor with artists, how they stood up over time against the elements. I'm also left with an impression about how unsafe so many mixed colors were throughout history, poisonous to the humans who used them.
cai_rw's review against another edition
4.0
Thoroughly interesting, and filled with little facts and stories that should be known by all.