Color charts : a history / Anne Varichon ; translated by Kate Deimling.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Varichon, Anne, author.

Contributor:

Deimling, Kate, translator.

Standardized Title:

Nuanciers

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Color--Psychological aspects--History.

Color.

Color--Social aspects--History.

Symbolism of colors--History.

Symbolism of colors.

Physical Description:

280 pages : illustrations (color) ; 29 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2024.

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 2024

Summary:

The need to categorize and communicate color has mobilized practitioners and scholars for centuries. Color Charts describes the many different methods and ingenious devices developed since the fifteenth century by doctors, naturalists, dyers, and painters to catalog fragments of colors. With the advent of industrial society, manufacturers and merchants developed some of the most beautiful and varied tools ever designed to present all the available colors. Thanks to them, society has discovered the abundance of color embodied in a plethora of materials: cuts of fabric, leather, paper, and rubber; slats of wood and linoleum; delicate skeins of silk; careful deposits of paint and pastels; fragments of lipstick; and arrangements of flower petals. These samples shape a visual culture and a chromatic vocabulary and instill a deep desire for color. Anne Varichon traces the emergence of modern color charts from a set of processes developed over the centuries in various contexts. She presents illuminating examples that bring this remarkable story to life, from ancient writings revealing attention to precise shade to contemporary designers' color charts, dyers' notebooks, and Werner's famous color nomenclature. Varichon argues that color charts have linked generations of artists, artisans, scientists, industrialists, and merchants, and have played an essential and enduring role in the way societies think about color. Drawing on nearly two hundred documents from public and private collections, almost all of them previously unpublished, this wonderfully illustrated book shows how the color chart, in its many distinct forms and expressions, is a practical tool that has transcended its original purpose to become an educational aid and subject of contemplation worthy of being studied and admired.--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Grasping color: fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. An age-old interest in color ; The sample, a tiny world ; In the seventeenth century, a growing range of tools

An ideal system: eighteenth century to mid-nineteenth century. The dyers' drive to innovate ; The Werner-Syme nomenclature, a color chart for understanding the world ; In the early nineteenth century, chemists work with textile samples

The chaos of synthetic color: mid- to late nineteenth century. Teaching manuals in chemistry reflect the transformation ; Continuing the undertaking of creating order in the sciences and the arts

A revolution in color: late nineteenth century to World War I. The chemical industry uses the color chart to promote the dyeing of raw materials ; Silk thread dyers orient their color charts toward creativity ; The retail color chart ; A struggle with the limitations of the color chart

Bringing color to the masses: between the world wars. The color charts of a thriving chemical industry ; The sewing and fashion industries: general stability and a few innovations ; The paint color chart introduces users to new products, customs, and perceptions ; Fine arts color charts become increasingly decorative ; Cosmetic color charts reflect an artistic approach to reproductions ; Color charts appear throughout the household

Jubilation of color: 1950s-1980s. The color chart in the chemical industry of the Trente Glorieuses ; Color charts for clothing that became more colorful ; In interior design, color charts for increasingly varied applications ; Color charts for artists' supplies: teaching and distancing ; Cosmetics color charts evoke enthusiasm

The color chart: Multitude, icon, idol, 1990s to the present. Ordinary and extraordinary color charts ; A wide range of choices ; In the 2000s, the color chart moves from icon to idol ; Color charts and artists ; Elegy or epilogue?

Notes:

"First published in the French language by Editions du Seuil, Paris, under the title: Nuanciers by Anne Varichon".

Includes bibliographic references.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Baird Fund bookplate.

Other Format:

Electronic version: Varichon, Anne. Nuanciers. Color charts.

ISBN:

0691255172

9780691255170

OCLC:

1374240935