a great book, very informative

Gorgeous! I love this stuff – the origins of pigments, how they're used in paint and dyes, all the background one might expect and the bits that are rather mind-blowing. I received this as an epub from Netgalley for review – I would love to have it in hardcover, to sit and pore over the – yes, brilliant pages.

Unfortunately I didn’t finish the book before it expired due to the pressures of being a first time parent. A shame as I was really looking forward to this, enjoyed the few pages I read when I downloaded it and am sure that it won't be available through our local library.

A great conversation starter. Worthwhile in every aspect. Brilliant layout in both colour and design.

A great reference tool for those in an art/art history class or those interested in the subject. It would be a great addition to an art book collection.

Synopsis: Art is never seen without colors. Usually people get engrossed with the beauty of art and wonder about the history and dedication that goes with each picture. Rarely, do people imagine or wonder about the colors that has been used. This book unravels the history behind each pigment.

The author might have done all the hard work in venturing out into the world of colors, but its the readers who get involved in this journey and enjoy it. Whether its the bright and bold Red, or the soothing nature of purple or the mysticism of wonder of blue, every color has a story to tell. Art doesn’t come into existence on its own, if the color palette doesn’t get involved. Each color came into existence, because someone from our ancestor actually tried to make it. Every page has been written in a language which is easy to comprehend and every word helps in creating the image; the reader actually relives the pages of history and is able to relate to it. Every exploration has been well-detailed and the brilliant use of the right amount of pictures makes it more enjoyable. The cover page and the title relate with each other and the content of the book. This is truly a colorful book and I enjoyed it; maybe more so because I actually enjoy painting and using colors in my daily llife.

My opinion: This book encompasses art, culture and history brilliantly and makes it definitely worth reading.

My rating: 5 out of 5

A wonderfully insightful book that details the history of color. As one that is fascinated by art and the use of color, I found this book to be informative and intriguing. Finlay delves into the importance of a particular color for a notable person and/or culture/society throughout time with a kind of finesse that makes history quite colorful--pardon the pun! She marries images and words to tell each color's tale within a page or two, thereby keeping you visually intrigued and enlightened. It's an absolute magical read. This book makes for a great gift for anyone, but especially for the artist, creative, or historian.

I very much appreciated colors as I read this book. It contains the origins of colors and where they are connected to. I learned a lot from it.

This reference book is for anyone who has ever wondered where "color" comes from? This look at the historical uses of pigments, dies, and clays is written with the right amount of information. As an Art Educator, students of all ages always ask about the origins of their media and color. I would use this book with middle grades-secondary ed.

It was fascinating to find out more about the origins of the colors, along with the fascinating visuals. I enjoyed this immensely.

"The Brilliant History of Color" explores the origins of pigments and dyes that were popular for painting, glazes, wallpapers, and clothing. For each pigment or dye, she told the story of how it was found or who made it popular or of a famous person who loved to use it. She often gave dates of when the color was first known to be in use and if it was removed from use due to safety concerns. She also talked about things like the move from wood panels to linen canvas for painting.

The author started with some of the oldest pigments and dyes used, like manganese black, red ocher, Egyptian Blue, yellow ocher, Tyrian Purple, cinnabar, black ink, gold leaf, green earth, ultramarine, cochineal, logwood black, cobalt, lead white, indigo, Indian yellow, madder red, graphite, and mummy brown. She then discussed the modern (1850s until now) explosion in color possibilities with colors like mauve, Prussian blue, manganese violet, chrome yellow, and cadmium yellow.

The stories were entertaining, informative, and contained interesting trivia. The book is targeted at tween or teens, and it's more a story of ongoing developments in color and their uses than a who-what-when-where-why history focused on the pigments. Overall, I'd recommend this entertaining and informative book to those looking for a quick look at color history.

I really enjoyed The Brilliant History of Color in Art. The cover won me over with its beautiful pops of color. I am a sucker for color. I have always leaned toward bright, happy colors because they make me feel good. This book is chalk full of color.

I think the idea for this book is really neat. Victoria Finlay has taken pieces of art throughout history and put together art that uses the same colors. It is amazing to see that artists from completely different eras and cultures that have worked on their own to create the same shades.

I think this book would interest artists, history loves and those who need a little color in their world.

Our art department will love this book. Students will be drawn to it because it is appealing, even if they don't read the interesting stories that accompany the majestic artwork.

Beautiful illustrations accompany this academic exploration of the history of color in art. Recommended for armchair art history aficionados.

A beautifully illustrated book, with lots of interesting facts about colours, where their raw materials come from, and how we use them. It begins with cave painting, moves on to ancient Egypt, and ends with digital painting ... a truly long journey through the world of art. It is a little too 'simplified' at times and tries hard to be snappy and modern, which is not necessary given the subject matter and its potential readers. However it is a lovely book, and very interesting, which would be great for children and for anyone interested in art.

Reviewed in exchange for a preview ebook.

This is a stunning book! Perfect for secondary school library collections!

This is, hands down, one of the best art books I have ever read.

From the stunning cover photo to the end of the acknowledgements, this book informs and entertains and is rich with illustrations.

Author Victoria Finlay explores (and shares with us the results of her research) the history behind a variety of colors ... colors used primarily in painting. Who knew, or would have guessed, that there would be such rich history in the development of colors?

The book begins with a visit to the Lascaux Caves in France and only two pages in to the book and we're off on a remarkable journey:
French scientists took a tiny sample from the snout of the Great Bull. They found that some of the black was not just soot or charcoal but also contained a rare kind of manganese oxide called hausmannite. This can be made artificially by heating rocks that are rich with manganese, but the process requires temperatures of around 1650 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s hard to see how prehistoric people could have generated that kind of heat from their open-pit fires. There could have been a local source we don’t know about anymore, but it is also possible that the Lascaux hausmannite came from the Pyrenees Mountains, 150 miles away.
Every color that Finlay explores has some interesting development -- just look at some of these chapter titles: "Mauve: Chemistry Project Gone Wrong"; "Prussian Blue: The Blue That Was Supposed to Be Red"; "Manganese Violet: Monet Goes Outside"; "Cadmium Yellow: Listening to Colors with Kandinsky." At the end of each chapter, I was eager to read on to see what I would learn next. Because you will learn something.

This is not a standard, dull history text-book about colors. This is a well researched, well written art book.

Finlay also uses a great many sidebars to complement the book, on topics such as "Pigments vs. Dyes" and "Red Ocher and Dying Stars" and "How We Perceive Colors" and so forth. These little capsule of knowledge are wonderful and often just the sort of trivia (if I may use that term without it being demeaning) that I enjoy.

The only downside to this book pertains specifically to my free digital edition. Some of the photographs in my copy are so badly pixellated that I couldn't make out the images. I would hope that this is fixed for any future digital release but really, this is the sort of book that you WANT to hold in your hands and to thumb through. You will want a physical copy of this book. I want a physical copy of this book. There are things in here that I intend to refer back to, whether for my painting or for my writing, or simply to refresh my memory.

Anyone interested in history or in art will want to have this book, and it's precisely the sort of book that, if sitting on a library (or home) shelf, will get picked up and thumbed through simply because it is so stunning.

Looking for a good book? The Brilliant History of Color in Art by Victoria Finlay is a stunningly beautiful book to look at and is packed, cover to cover, with interesting and sometimes unusual information about the development of colors throughout history, and is written in a very approachable style.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I studied art in school and took classes on the subject of color and how it is used and some of the history of color. I really enjoyed reading through this book but especially loved reading it accompanied by the many illustrations and examples. This is one of those books that you can look through again and again and see something different each time. It wasn't and exhaustive history by any means but it gives a good overview and some interesting facts about how colors were made in the early days and how they were used and what they ment. I read this on my computer. I had a digital copy that was given to me to read and review. I am going to buy this one so I can have a hard copy. I loved it!

The writing isn't too scholarly so even my middle school aged children will be able to read it and learn from it. Lovely book with lots of lovely pictures to look at!

I nabbed this book on NetGalley because, hello, COLORS! This is a pretty great book if you want to know the history of how different color pigments came about in artwork over the centuries. It goes through all the different colors and discusses their origins, where they were originally used, how they were created, and how they were used in art. It also contains a LOT of pictures so you can place the colors and techniques more visually. I loved the addition of special tidbits about the various colors; factoids beyond just their uses in art. It’s also a wonderful companion to read alongside Color Song, since many of the colors mentioned in that book are explained and visualized here! The e-galley formatting was a bit troublesome for me, since it showed each (extra-wide) two-page spread at a time, but I know it’s going to be a gorgeous hardcover that I’d love to add to my shelves.

[NOTE: The review linked below will go live on my blog 12/27/2014]

The Brilliant History of Color in Art is a beautiful, informative book that I highly recommend for libraries or well funded art rooms in both secondary and college/university settings. I found the book to be a treasure of information presented quite aesthetically, and with a strong background in history and science. There is even a section on "modern" color. Terrific book!

This is an excellent resource for artists or history teachers. It is also so pretty you might want a copy just to keep on the coffee table. Who knew color was so interesting?!

The adjective "brilliant" is an apt descriptor for this entertaining, informative, and beautiful history of color in art. For the week I spent reading it, my conversations consisted primarily of "Hey, did you know..." followed by some interested tidbit about Prussian blue or Vermilion. (This really isn't as nerdy as it sounds--the book is really fascinating!)
Why only four stars, then? Because the last quarter of the book left me asking myself one question: If the emperor has no clothes, but the experts tell you he's wearing mauve, can he still start a fashion trend? In other words, the author presented the "artspeak" of the modern art movement with the same respect she gave to the skill-based art of the Renaissance. I can't apologize for my opinion of this: the idea that a confidence man can convince the intellectuals of the art world that his canvases of a single color are worth millions is funny on a certain level. (The book actually relates the story of an "artist" who published a book of his "art": rectangles of single colors named after cities to give the impression they were painted there, in order to create a back log of his own "paitings" and thus add respectability to his work. I found this mildly funny, but was turned off by the actual admiration the author showed this man.) But it ceases to be humorous when you think of what this cost the world besides money. For decades we lost the knowledge that had been passed from one generation of artists to the next, and are only now recovering it. The fact that decades of grifters took work away from artists who worked tirelessly to improve their art is tragic. Thus...four stars. I was going to buy a few copies as Christmas presents, but I just can't after that last quarter.

Very interesting book. The structure and edition are on point.
There were several amazing facts and the paintings and art chosen are perfect examples for the book's explanations. I found it quite light, not boring at all. However, it's a fast look over the history of colour, quite brief in my opinion - which is not necesarily bad.

The Brilliant History of Color in Art is a great introduction into the realm of both art and history for young readers. Focusing on different colors, readers get snippets of history from around the globe and throughout time. Great illustrations accompany educational and entertaining information.

Having studied art history, I was somewhat familiar with the history of the use and symbology of color, but I knew little about the historical and social origins of each color. This book has contributed to filling that gap in my education. It is a history of colours organised around colours instead of following a chronological order, which contributes to the fleshing out of each color in a way that prevents them from “blending” into another (pun intended).

Written with a younger audience in mind, this book would probably be at home in an art class for teens. It is informative, captivating and easy to read. It is also lavishly illustrated with works of art and supporting materials. The stories are presented in such a way that it read like the best History books: as a succession of fascinating stories about Human ingenuity.

It will certainly influence the way I look at colours (in art and elsewhere) from now on.