As a beginner artist I enjoyed the knowledge that I learned from this book. I like that it provided a lot of history and meaning with each colour. For a book about colour I do wish there were more pictures in the book, I felt that it would have added a lot to the book by having more colours in the book.

Heavy, hard to follow, but once you get used to it, it is considerably much easier. Each chapter examines a different color and their associations, along with interesting theories that, although may not related to said color, add useful information to understand the background of colors in different contexts.

This book has taught me so much about colour or, I should say, how we (humans) make colour colour.

In a semi academic yet accessible way, the authors explain how we physically ‘see’ colours. I can’t get my head around colours not actually being there but it was interesting nonetheless. The chapters are split into the seven colours of the rainbow, as defined by Newton, and then ending with black, white and gray. For each, their use by artists (particularly their place in art history), writers, politicians, human rights activists, different cultures and societies, is explored. One colour can have a complexity of meanings, except that colours in themselves don’t ‘mean’.

“Color doesn’t tell us what the meaning is. We tell the color; and whatever we say it means, we make it mean..”

Take black, for instance. Is black a colour or is it lack of colour?

“Black is a color worn equally by mourners and monarchs, melancholic and motorcycle enthusiasts. It’s the color favoured both by beatniks (remember those?) and by Batman. By ninjas and by nuns. By fascists and by fashionistas.......It is a colour that can be both recessive and excessive: the color of abjection and of arrogance, of piety and of perversity, of restraint and of rebelliousness. It’s the color of glamour, and it is the colour of gloom.”

Associations can appear arbitrary. Sometimes one colour can point us in opposite directions, e.g. blue blood, blue collar. There is usually a reason for these applications though. “The sensation of color is physical; the perception of color is cultural.”

In one chapter, the authors explore skin colour, particularly the politics of colour. ‘Coloured people’ is a term that has been reclaimed by ‘people of colour’ but, the authors argue, what person is not ‘coloured’? Complexions are myriad but no one is actually white / lacks colour. It is, of course, a political statement rather than a literal description. It was interesting to learn that until the end of the 19th century, the Japanese and Chinese were considered ‘white’. It was only when immigration to the USA significantly increased at that time, and Jack London coined the phrase ‘the yellow peril’, that their skin complexion was perceived differently. Then there is ‘red’ skin but that’s another story.

Another learning curve for me was the chapter on indigo, not a colour but a dye. Newton has it in his rainbow but, in England, it was known as Navy Blue and that colour certainly doesn’t appear in any rainbow. In modern times, violet usually replaces indigo. Anyway, I had no idea of the human suffering involved in its production or that it was produced on slave plantations. The conditions were appalling and life was short for those working with it. Every day is a school day.

I strongly recommend this book. I learned a great deal and every page brought a new idea or lesson to me. Sometimes a colour is just a colour but sometimes, very often, it is so much more.

With thanks to NetGalley and Yale University Press for a review copy.