Customer Reviews

Colour: Travels Through the Paintbox

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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.

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.

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.

"Colour", by Victoria Finlay is a joy to read. Finlay combines excellent writing with fascinating information about the colours we see every day.

Too many other writers in this genre seem to do their "research" on the internet - at least that is how some of their books come across to me. It is certainly a cheap way of churning out books - in both senses of the word.

Finlay went to the places she wrote about. She talked to local experts. Her diligence makes the book particularly worthwhile. I respect writers who also respect their subject and who do the hard work to understand it.

In the chapter on blue she describes an epic journey to see the lapis lazuli mines in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. It's a great story, and typical of many other stories in the book.

In the hands of a lesser writer, such stories would be annoyingly trivial "look at me! look at me!" exercises in narcissistic attention-seeking. In this book they serve to illustrate important parts of the colours Finlay tracks down in unusual places.

Today painters, dyers and printers have easy access to almost any colour they want. It was not always like that. Many of the colours Finlay writes about were once available only from natural products - plants, insects and minerals - that came from far away places. Many of them were toxic. Many faded over time. Some reacted with other pigments and their colours changed if used carelessly.

In the chapter on white, Finlay graphically describes how one of the most prized white pigments was made from ingredients that included cow manure and vinegar. This was white lead and was used not only as a white pigment in paints, but also as a white base for cosmetics until late in the 19th century. Not surprisingly, this lead (excuse the pun) to cases of lead poisoning among women. Finlay vividly describes the symptoms as lead poisoning advances in the body.

In some parts of the world today, women still use "kohl" (a toxic antimony compound) as eye liner. Finlay claims that the fundamentalist soldiers in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan also used kohl eye liner to show that Allah was protecting them.

The book is full of such interesting (and often amusing) asides. In discussing the pigments used in the Dunhuang cave paintings, Finlay mentions the looting not only of images, but also of ancient documents. One of these documents was a "timelessly useful model letter to send to your host apologising for drunken behaviour the night before."

Or, how about Spanish red - cochineal? The colour "that has too much death in it for Buddhist robes", but is Ok for cosmetics and as Colour Additive E120 in Cherry Coke.

It is amazing how many diverse snippets of information Finlay has been able to cram into her book without either cramping the narrative or rendering it excessively academic.

Finlay's chapter on the ochres vividly and movingly describes how Australian Aboriginals traditionally used these pigments in their paintings and rituals. Her account is based on her own visits to Aboriginal communities and her respectful efforts to understand their cultures and beliefs. Ochres last forever on rocks and the walls of caves. Not so the traditions and ways of life they recorded thousands of years ago.

Finlay is a remarkably perceptive and honest observer - and she went to considerable effort to obtain first-hand knowledge and to research her subject on the ground, often literally in the case of the ochres. Indeed, this approach is typical of the whole book.

One of the most memorable of many memorable stories in this book is in the Orange chapter, where, among other things, Finlay discusses violin making and the wonderful colours of the greatest violins -and the mystery of their beautiful sound.

She concludes by saying of the master craftsmen "It is the secret of knowing yourself and your materials so well that you can wrap your life's experiences into the very body of an instrument." Surely this is the key to all the greatest art?

I loved "A Natural History of Colour".

As much as I enjoy novels I tend to read mostly non fiction(and a lot of it)natural history, science etc..

What I enjoyed so much about this book was that the author flawlessly weaves together not just the history of each color but varied stories on her quest to find the truth that are as rich as the colors themselves. It was an absolute joy to read and I wish there were more books out there like this one.

This book very much reminds me of some of my favorites by Diane Akerman (A Natural History of The Senses, An Alchemy of The Mind etc..)though perhaps a bit less poetic than Diane this book is none the less imaginative and interesting.

I highly recommended it.

A marvelous mix of history, culture, chemistry, and the practical, social, and artistic issues of the use of colour. I had no particular interest in the topic based on the title, but, after some strong recommendations, picked up this work and was captivated. It's quite a lengthy tome, but is easy to read a chapter at a time whenever the mood is right. Each chapter focuses on one colour (or black, brown or white), and delves into where pigments and dyes come from, how they are made, the chemical and biological hazards associated with various sources and methods, the related cultural history, the impact of a colour on historical events, etc., ,etc., etc. This book is really loaded with historical, cultural, and scientific insights that will capture the mind regardless of your interest in the subject of colour itself. Highly recommended.

This copy of the book seems to be just fine. I purchased it for a friend who has the book on Gems by the same author.

I was looking for this particular edition of Colour and found it on Amazon. The dealer I received it from was very courteous, asked for feedback, and sent the book in the condition it was described ahead of schedule. In fact, the condition of the work exceeded my expectations as this edition is no longer in active print.