The world according to color A cultural history

James Fox, 1982-

Book - 2022

"A kaleidoscopic exploration that traverses history, literature, art, and science to reveal humans' unique and vibrant relationship with color. We have an extraordinary connection to color-we give it meanings, associations, and properties that last millennia and span cultures, continents, and languages. In The World According to Color, James Fox takes seven main colors-black, red, yellow, blue, white, purple, and green-and uncovers behind each a root idea, based on visual resemblances and common symbolism throughout history. Through a series of stories and vignettes, the book then traces these meanings to show how they morphed and multiplied and, ultimately, how they reveal a great deal about the societies that produced them: refl...ecting and shaping their hopes, fears, prejudices, and preoccupations. Fox also examines the science of how our eyes and brains interpret light and color, and shows how this is inherently linked with the meanings we give to hue. And using his background as an art historian, he explores many of the milestones in the history of art-from Bronze Age gold-work to Turner, Titian to Yves Klein-in a fresh way. Fox also weaves in literature, philosophy, cinema, archaeology, and art-moving from Monet to Marco Polo, early Japanese ink artists to Shakespeare and Goethe to James Bond. By creating a new history of color, Fox reveals a new story about humans and our place in the universe: second only to language, color is the greatest carrier of cultural meaning in our world"--

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Subjects
Published
New York, NY : St. Martin's Press 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
James Fox, 1982- (author)
Edition
First U.S. edition
Physical Description
xv, 300 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781250278517
  • List of Illustrations
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • 1. Black
  • Out of Darkness
  • 2. Red
  • Inventing Humanity
  • 3. Yellow
  • Twilight of the Idols
  • 4. Blue
  • Beyond the Horizon
  • 5. White
  • Poisonous Purity
  • 6. Purple
  • The Synthetic Rainbow
  • 7. Green
  • Paradise Lost
  • The World According to Color
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Further Reading
  • Index
Review by Booklist Review

Working with a palette of history, art, literature, physics, linguistics, and physiology, art historian Fox renders a masterwork on the meaning of color in human life. Easily understood science is presented (photons, retinal cone cells, wavelengths). Artists (Monet, Titian, Turner), writers (Shakespeare, Poe, Pamuk), and religious texts are all present in this discussion of the significance ascribed to colors. Worldwide, blue is the most well-liked. Perhaps connotations of sky, sea, and serenity clinch its victory. In large part due to the marvelous molecule chlorophyll, green evokes renewal and environmental attention. Purple is uncommon in nature but has been extensively synthesized chemically. Red has long been symbolic of dominance, mostly through its association with blood. Fox acknowledges that while humans have a spectrum of possible skin colors, "beneath the surface, all of us are red" due to our blood's hemoglobin. Yellow--the sun, gold, saffron--occupies a "precarious position between the divine and disagreeable" as "the world generally inclines to yellow" (think old paper, aging teeth.). Infused with descriptions of all sorts of hues and pigments, including ultramarine, ochre, and magenta; presented in wonderfully kaleidoscopic writing; and fresh in its perspective, Fox's history expounds on the symbols, metaphors, traditions, and exploitations of color.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

The colors that surround us are so ubiquitous that we often fail to see them. But opening our eyes can give us new insights and a different sense of ourselves. In his first book for a trade audience, academic Fox casts a wide net, aiming to tell the story of humanity through the symbolism of seven colors: black, red, yellow, blue, white, purple, and green. He introduces the subject with chapters on how colors work at a scientific level, examining how the spectrum was slowly defined and understood. This is interesting stuff, but Fox's real interest is social construction. Much of the meaning of black, associated with evil, stems from biblical references. Red often means blood and violence as well as sexual attractiveness, although the Chinese tie it to prestige and wealth. Yellow is often associated with the sun but also has links to villainy: Think of the yellow cloak of Judas in the famous Giotto fresco. For ages, blue, as an artistic color, was derived from somewhat tame vegetable dyes, but the discovery of Prussian blue, the first synthetic pigment, changed art styles ranging from the impressionists to Japanese woodcuts. White has often meant purity in everything from faith to soap. Purple, long associated with royalty--due to its incredible cost, before synthetic versions--really only came into its own when painters like Monet used it to add depth and texture to landscapes. Green has historically been tied to fertile gardens, which has evolved to its current connection with environment-based political parties and issues. Interestingly, the Quran describes green as the color of paradise. Diving deep into the background, Fox illustrates his points with a wide range of visuals, from the chemical structure of dyes to the pristine-white marble sculptures of Michelangelo. The color story, he notes, shows no sign of ending--as it should be. Through meticulous research and authoritative writing, Fox helps us to see the world around us in a different light. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.