Reviews

Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay

arcoirisdesign's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

Quotes
“Art . . . must do something more than give pleasure: it should relate to our own life so as to increase our energy of spirit.” SIR KENNETH CLARK, Looking at Pictures

The Beginning of the Rainbow “An image reflected in a mirror, a rainbow in the sky, and a painted scene Make their impressions upon the mind, but in essence are other than what they seem Look deeply at the world, and see an illusion, a magician’s dream.” THE SEVENTH DALAI LAMA: “Song of the Immaculate Path”

How I Discovered It
Gabi

Who Should Read It
Anyone interested in color

Thoughts & Impressions
Makes me think about paint in a new way. Makes me appreciate color a lot more and the history behind it

What I Liked About It
Lots of stories to tie in with the talk about color

What I Didn’t Like About It
Pictures would have been helpful

How the Book Changed Me
I appreciate color in a different way now. And I’m compelled to use color outside a computer.

Related Books
Simon Garfield’s Mauve, Robert Chenciner’s Madder Red, François Delamare and Bernard Guineau’s Colour and most recently Philip Ball’s Bright Earth— and I have found some excellent sources in libraries, especially John Gage’s Colour and Culture and Jenny Balfour-Paul’s Indigo, but there are many more. 

en_yue's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted slow-paced

4.5

frenchfrybri's review against another edition

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3.0

i think i would have rated this higher but i overestimated how much i was interested in global art history tbh. if that’s up your alley though, this is an excellent read

desarroi's review against another edition

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adventurous informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

4.0

hakkun1's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

braynard's review against another edition

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I just didn't vibe with the writing style. Maybe I'll give it another try some day. 

stowic's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

songwind's review against another edition

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4.0

I greatly enjoyed this book. As an artist I have a lot of interest in the subject matter, and Finlay does a good job of presenting it.

She mixes the historical and scientific facts about the different pigments with anecdotes both historical and personal. In her travels she met a great many interesting people, and some of those stories are just as entertaining as the stories of the colors themselves.

sallyavena's review against another edition

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4.0

An interesting take on color/pigment that is like a humanities book, history, travel guide and travel journal/log all rolled into one. It does have a lot of personal speculation and thought from the author, but I didn't mind that because it added to the travel log aspect of it. The author had some amazing experiences as part of her research that gave me a little wanderlust.

shha's review against another edition

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adventurous informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0