The Secret Lives of Colour: RADIO 4's BOOK OF THE WEEK

Clair, Kassia St

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1473630819 ISBN 13: 9781473630819

Publisher: John Murray, 2016

'A mind-expanding tour of the world without leaving your paintbox. Every colour has a story, and here are some of the most alluring, alarming, and thought-provoking. Very hard painting the hallway magnolia after this inspiring primer.'
Simon Garfield


The Secret Lives of Colour tells the unusual stories of the 75 most fascinating shades, dyes and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso's blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history. In this book Kassia St Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colours and where they come from (whether Van Gogh's chrome yellow sunflowers or punk's fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilisation. Across fashion and politics, art and war, The Secret Lives of Colour tell the vivid story of our culture.

Review:

If you want to fall back in love with colour, read The Secret Lives of Colour (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)

A dazzling and vibrant history of colour, from Van Gogh's wilting yellow sunflowers to Turner's deadly green and Picasso's darkest period (MAIL ON SUNDAY)

This is a gorgeous book (GUARDIAN)

Even Farrow and Ball don't know as much about the secret lore of colour as Kassia St Clair... Almost every page throws up an unexpected detail and insight... Extraordinarily full and interesting...An ideal crib and a valuable resource not only for the design-conscious but for students. (Brian Morton TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT)

The weirdly fascinating history of your favourite hues from an unwittingly deadly, arsenic-tinged green to Van Gogh's favoured yellow (WIRED)

'An excellent, innovative and idiosyncratic cultural history that will colour your thinking...St Clair writes with style, energy and knowledge, explaining many mysteries succinctly and wittily, such as why a regular tomato is, for example, not red. Tomatoes appear red because that's the very wavelength their skin does not absorb. A 'red' tomato lies to tell the truth.. Snappily designed, with high production values...[The Secret Lives of Colour is] attractive and diverting.' (Stephen Bayley SPECTATOR)

Beautiful...See how a single colour can tell different stories across the globe. (DAILY MAIL)

A work of art in its own right... a beautiful tactile book filled with fascinating anecdotes about every colour from blonde to puce. (THE POOL)

Charming (FINANCIAL TIMES)

From pink boys' clothes to blue warpaint; why orange spells danger and other colourful tales (DAILY TELEGRAPH)

Book Description:

The unforgettable history of colours and the vivid stories behind them in a beautiful multi-coloured volume