Anyone with an interest in colour will find this book fascinating. Starting with some background information on how we see colour and its relationship with light, St Clair then looks at the influence of pigments and dyes on art history, the politics of colour and the influence of language on colour. For the most part, however, this book is devoted to history and to stories associated with particular 'colour families'. In each family, St Clair has chosen to write about the shades she found most intriguing. Starting with white, she moves through yellow, orange, pink, red and purple into blues, greens, browns and finally black. In each section I found shades I was unfamiliar with, at least by name. I had not heard of 'Isabelline', for example, a rather unattractive shade of yellowish white, although the story behind it is fascinating!
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