Interaction of Color: Revised Edition (Paperback)

by Josef Albers (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"'The Interaction of Colour... has proven key to understanding color relationships and human perception... Anyone who works with color should read Albers' findings, period.' Pamela Pfiffner, MacUser" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

The masterworks of one of the most influential teacher-artists of the twentieth century, originally published as a limited, boxed edition in 1963, was conceived as a guide and teaching aid for artists, instructors, and students. A paperbound edition, containing the unabridged text of the original edition, plus ten representative color plates, chosen from the original silk-screen reproductions and printed by offset lithography, was published in 1971. Since those color plates have now been worn out in repeated reprintings, Mr. Albers has selected ten different color studies, with new comments, for this revised edition.

"The text of Interaction of Color provides the careful reader with the content of Josef Albers’ famous color course. His teaching is based on learning by direct perception, and not by theories or color systems. There are many books on color on the market, but no one combines eyesight with such profound insight as Josef Albers does in Interaction of Color."—Hannes Beckmann

"The publication of this famous book in paperback is an event. . . . It is clearly written and easy to understand. . . . This book ought to be owned by any serious student or teacher, regardless of the kind of painting he does."—The Artist

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Product Details

• Paperback: 74 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; Revised edition (September 10, 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300018460
• ISBN-13: 978-0300018462
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #292,847 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good poetry - Needs more plates, July 11, 2001

By	Spencer Harvey "[e-mail]" (Acton, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When originally published, Albers' book had 150 plates. Not surprising for a treatise on the use of color in art. However, when you chop it down to 10 color plates, as is the case with this "pocket" volume, something is lost. Never-the-less, Albers is clearly a master of this topic, and his poetic prose is inspiring. Let's hope that the original volume is reprinted at some point.

101 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Almost worthless without the original color plates, February 8, 2005

By	Shock Writer (Knoxville, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews

As another reviewer states the original had 150 color plates this version has only 8 in mine. The visual phenomena are so complex that without the plates you can't possibly accurately understand what the book is talking about. Sure you could make you own examples, but if you did, you would NOT be sure, given the complex examples, that you understood what the author was talking about. Instead you will have a false understanding or incomplete understanding that will make you look foolish. The publisher is cashing in on the author's previous great work without really republishing it. This is the lowest I've ever rated a book.

57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best source to learn about and understand color, August 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Interaction of Color: CD-ROM Edition, Version 1.1 for Macintosh Computers (Misc. Supplies)

As an art student at Idaho State University in 1970, we used this resource as a basis for our studies. To this date, I feel it is the one book from which I learned the real meaning of color and how we perceive it and how to make it do what we want it to do in the things we create. I have never seen an approach like this, and the color studies were the ultimate learning experience for me. There's nothing like it!