Chromatopia : an illustrated history of colour / David Coles ; with photography by Adrian Lander.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Coles, David, author.

Contributor:

Lander, Adrian, photographer.

Samuel W. Golden Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Colors.

History.

Color.

Color--History.

Colors--History.

Color in art.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xv, 223 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, New York : Thames & Hudson Inc., 2019.

Summary:

Did you know that the Egyptians created the first synthetic colour; or that the noblest purple comes from a predatory sea snail? Throughout history, artist pigments have been made from deadly metals, poisonous minerals, urine, cow dung, and even crushed insects. From grinding down beetles and burning animal bones to alchemy and serendipity, Chromatopia reveals the origin stories of over 50 of history's most extraordinary pigments. Spanning the ancient world to modern leaps in technology, this is a book for the artist, the history buff, the science lover and the design fanatic.

Contents:

A life lived in colour

Glossary

The basics of colour : Blue ; Purple ; Red ; Orange ; Yellow ; Green

I. The first colours : Ochres ; Chalk white ; Lamp black ; Bone white ; Bone black

II. Colour in the time of the ancients : Egyptian blue ; Orpiment ; Realgar ; Woad

III. Colour + the classical world : Lead white ; Tyrian purple ; Indigo ; Malachite ; Azurite ; Red lead ; Verdigris ; Chrysocolla

IV. Medieval colours : Lac ; Vine black ; Kermes ; Dragon's blood ; Lapis lazuli ; Peach black ; Lead tin yellow ; Vermilion ; Smalt ; Saffron ; Blue Verditer ; Graphite ; Naples Yellow

V. Writing inks : Gall ink : Bistre ; Sepia ; Walnut

VI. Dyes, lakes + pinkes : Arzica ; Brazilwood ; Logwood ; Stil De Grain ; Madder lake ; Cochineal ; The farmers of cochineal

VII. Mysterious colours : Indian yellow ; Gamboge ; Mummy Brown

VIII. The explosion of colours : Prussian blue ; Lead chromates ; Emerald green ; Cobalt ; Potter's pink ; Ultramarine ; Cadmium ; Cerulean blue ; Manganese

IX. A brave new world of colour : Mars colours ; Zinc white ; Titanium white ; Synthetic chemistry of the modern world

X. The science of modern colour : Fluorescence ; Photoluminescence ; YInMn blue ; Vantablack ; Making colour visceral: how paint is made

Manufacturing pigments : Lead white ; Carmine lake ; Ultramarine ; Madder lake

Artists' colour.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Samuel W. Golden Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781760760021

1760760021

OCLC:

1041891896