Colour: Travels Through the Paintbox [Paperback]

Victoria Finlay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2002

Part travelogue, part narrative history, 'Colour' unlocks the history of the colours of the rainbow, and reveals how paints came to be invented, discovered, traded and used. This remarkable and beautifully written book remembers a time when red paint was really the colour of blood, when orange was the poison pigment, blue as expensive as gold, and yellow made from the urine of cows force-fed with mangoes. It looks at how green was carried by yaks along the silk road, and how an entire nation was founded on the colour purple. Exciting, richly informative, and always surprising, 'Colour' lifts the lid on the historical palette and unearths an astonishing wealth of stories about the quest for colours, and our efforts to understand them.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'[Victoria Finlay's] curiosity is inexhaustible, her reading wide, and her writing style a delight' -- Sunday Telegraph 20030518 'It's pure pleasure to join this gutsy arts reporter-cum-scholar on her quest for historical pigments and dyes around the world' -- Independent 20021122 'A highly companionable guide, adventurous and romantic' -- Independent on Sunday 20030518 'A treasure trove of human history and obsession...the breadth of research and insight is dazzling.' -- The Glasgow Herald 20030607 'This is a rare and wonderful book - a model of erudition and charm, the writing elegant and precise, and with at least one new and fascinating revelation on every single page. I could not be more enthusiastic.' -- Simon Winchester, author of THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN 20030607 'Packed with stories, anecdotes and adventures. A full rainbow ... as vivid as the colours themselves' -- Express 20030607 'You get your money's worth and change to spare ... Both picaresque and picturesque, it's a rich read.' -- Evening Standard 20030607 'It's hard to criticise her spirit of cultural exploration and easy to share her intelligent enthusiasm ...Packed with pertinent trivia ... informative and fun' -- South China Morning Post 20030607 'An utterly unique and fascinating read' -- Publishers Weekly 20021216 'Full of forgotten facts and beguiling anecdotes ... it would be hard to confront a painting ever again without seeing in it a kind of coded map of the world' -- Telegraph 20021019 'An irresistible cornucopia ...Her travels are Marco Polish; her research vast but lightly worn. The whole book is an infectious delight.' -- RTE Guide 20021101 'Packed with facts, fables and anecdotes ... Finlay's detailed and brilliantly researched account makes for a fascinating read' -- Australian Interior Trends 20020801 'Victoria Finlay has unlocked the history of colour in this trawl through some little-known history' -- Courier Mail ( Australia) 20021026 'A welcome reminder of the epic stories beneath the surface of everyday life' -- Telegraph 20030517 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Victoria Finlay studied social anthropology at St Andrews University, specialising in Asian culture. She worked as a journalist in Hong Kong for eleven years, five of which were spent as arts editor for the "South China Morning Post". --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton General Division (September 19, 2002)
• ISBN-10: 0340826320
• ISBN-13: 978-0340826324
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,123,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I first became fascinated with where colours came from when I was eight, and my father showed me aa stained glass window in Chartres cathedral and explained how the blue glass was made 800 years ago - and we were no longer able to make it. Many years later I gave up my day job as Arts editor at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong - where I lived for 12 years - to write Color: A Natural History of the Palette. My second book followed in 2005, called Jewels: A Secret History.

In the course of my research, I travelled to the underground opal churches of outback Australia, interviewed retired pearl fishermen in Scotland, crawled through Cleopatra's long-deserted emerald mines, climbed the "blue mountains" of Afghanistan where Michelangelo's ultramarine paint came from, learned about medieval stained glassand tried my hand at gem cutting in the dusty Sri Lankan city where Marco Polo once bartered for sapphires. I moved back to the UK in 2003 and now live near Bath, in southwest England. I divide my time between researching her fourth book (the third was for the World Bank), working for an international environmental charity and writing for various UK and international publications.

The photo was taken on the Tiwi Islands in Northern Australia where Doreen Tipoulera created the Big Sheep, Little Sheep Dreaming in ochre on my face. I didn't wash it off for hours.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rainbow of anecdotes, March 16, 2004

By 

K. Maxwell "katmax1" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colour: Travels Through the Paintbox (Paperback)

If you've ever painted or dyed fabrics have you ever wondered where your colours originated? This book takes you on a journey through a painting and dye rainbow. Through numerous anecdotes and stories we go hunting for things like the source of Indian Yellow, the lapis lazuli mines of Afghanistan, and the delicate green of the celadon porcelains of China.

One thing this book does is show the unreliability of mythic stories on the source of various colours and the secrecy and economic strength these dyes and paints held for various people throughout the centuries. You will not gain all the secrets to the various colours of the rainbow in this book, but you will gain an appreciation for how much knowledge has been lost or corrupted over the centuries and how hard it was to develop simple things like colours that we take for granted today.

This book is recommended for anyone who has ever painted or dyed - you'll get a new appreciation for those people in the past whose skills we probably really don't truly appreciate today.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Artists, September 7, 2008

By 

Ruth "booksalways" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Colour (Paperback)

Anyone who works with colour and is interested in the origins of things would enjoy this book. It's packed full of stories and information about the colours which are so familiar in an artist's palette. An informative and enjoyable read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All the colors of the rainbow, June 9, 2006

By 

Sarah Sammis "Avid BookCrosser" (Hayward, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Colour (Paperback)

Colour is an interesting book. Some chapters are more informative than others. Esentially the book is a travelogue with the trips held together by the common theme of color. By far the weakest chapter is "Orange" in that it is more a chapter about music than it is about the hue Finlay was supposedly studying. The best chapters are "Red", "Yellow" and "Blue." In these three chapters Finlay hits her stride, tracking down the history, politics and oddities of these hues.