Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
Discover the tantalizing true stories behind your favorite colors. For example: Cleopatra used saffron—a source of the color yellow—for seduction. Extracted from an Afghan mine, the blue “ultramarine” paint used by Michelangelo was so expensive he couldn’t afford to buy it himself. Since ancient times, carmine red—still found in lipsticks and Cherry Coke today—has come from the blood of insects.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Wonderful story!!!
Customer Rating:
I recently began to study textiles on my own and have always been fascinated by COLOR. This book is not only a great read with many wonderful stories, but one of the few books I've read where I was sad to see it end. I will never look at red or purple or ochre or blue, or any color for that matter, in the same way. There are other books on color which may give more detailed information, but none so human or intriguing. I could only imagine what adventures would await someone on a quest of colors' natural history as this author has encountered. I highly highly recommend this book for anyone interested in social history and human inventiveness.
What you didn't know that you really want to know
Customer Rating:
I took for granted all the colors and dyes in our everyday lives -- yet these seemingly simple colors each have a history, a point of origin, a story: these tales are fascinating. (I will never be able look at blue jeans with the same complacence again.) And this is a great travelogue too: Finlay travels the world to search out the colors....
A Fascinating Look at Colors and Their History
Customer Rating:
This book was recommended to me by a customer in my shop, following a discussion of art and textiles from Indonesia, Central Asia and the Middle East. I found it to be an informative read. It presented a lot of information on the history and anthropology of colors, providing perspectives that I found to be interesting. In some places the author's style was somewhat off-putting which detracted somewhat from the content. That aside, I recommend the book and have in fact suggested it to several artists who have visited my shop, Interesting Stuff.
Awesome and useful
Customer Rating:
I use some of the fun facts from this book in the oil painting class I teach. A very entertaining and educational travelogue. I really enjoyed how the author tied different narrative threads together.
Voyage to the source of colors
Customer Rating:
Part travelogue, part history and part study of the origins and source of pigments, "Color" is always informative and engaging. There is no book quite like this. For the painter, amateur or professional, the book will provide inspiration and a new way to look at and think about color. For the non-artist, it is an eye-opening essay into this exciting world. You'll want to rush out and buy a paint set afterwards.
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