Through meticulous research and authoritative writing, Fox helps us to see the world around us in a different light. Augustine’s argument, so deeply informed by his Manichaean inheritance, is significant because it identified darkness not with evil—that connection was established long before the Gospels were written—but with absence. This is relevant to us because the same argument was, and is, used to denigrate the color with which darkness is always compared. The first narrative exploration of humans' extraordinary relationship with color, and the history of its meanings, associations, and properties that span cultures, continents, and languages.

knyga buvo nuostabi kelionė po spalvas, po kiekvieną iš jų atskirai. Apie kiekvieną skaitydama pradedavau visur ją pastebėti ir stebėti. Kurti naujas sąsajas ir ryšius su ją. It was only a matter of time before the work of Robert Rauschenberg would again receive a star billing in Paris, and there could be no better venue than the Centre Pompidou. The reason is that the work literally benefits from the implied temporariness of the 'rooms' at the Centre.Animals inhabit very different chromatic worlds too. Most mammals are red-green colour-blind; bulls might be famous for their hatred of red capes, but the colour itself is invisible to them – they are actually enraged by the fabric’s movements. By contrast, most reptiles, amphibians, insects and birds perceive more colours than us. Bees see ultraviolet light, discerning elaborate patterns in flowers that we cannot perceive, while snakes see infrared radiation, detecting the warm bodies of prey from a distance. People generally name only the colours they consider socially or culturally important While some of the stories and artists were familiar to me, I was introduced to many new ones; I want to explore the work of Howard Hodgkin and perhaps even the avant-garde Ana Mendieta.

In addition to the cultural history of art, as the title suggests, there is a mix of colour theory, the biology of how humans can recognise colour, as well the chemical make up of substances that make them a certain colour. It’s impressive that such a wide range of information can be contained in a single book, and with such a lightness of touch, but the author’s style is fluid and vivid and the book is so well researched that I found it a joy to read.

The World According to Colour: A Cultural History – book review Oddly, a squashed fly triggered art historian James Fox’s fascination with colour and, in this ambitious study, he takes us on an epic journey showing the significance of various colours across the ages Looking at the same colours from the perspectives of nature, science and psychology gives us further insights to how important colour can be to life. From the green chlorophyll of plants to the red haemoglobin of our literal life blood, how nature uses colour to attract mates and pollinators, warn of danger and camouflage, the science of how we see colour and how we can use it to reflect and affect our moods and wellbeing.

The Red chapter was talking a lot about cave paintings, but it really didn't relate to the color red specifically, and how red has been linked with blood. The next subheading was called "Blood Offerings" and I honestly came here to read about color and not blood. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12) 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. Unsurprisingly, artists and paintings play a prominent part in the story, from the makers of those unsettling red handprints in Chauvet Cave to Howard Hodgkin, whose masterly Leaf (2007–9) consists of a single brushstroke of emerald green that took a few seconds to execute and two years of mental preparation. ‘Colour is colour,’ Hodgkin once said. ‘You can’t control it’ – although Leaf showed the artist making a pretty good stab at this.In the chapter on purple, we learn how this vibrant colour of the rich and powerful was brought to the masses thanks to William Henry Perkin, who in the spring of 1856 accidentally discovered the first synthetic purple dye. His breakthrough brought “mauve mania” to the British Isles and laid the foundation for the synthetic organic chemicals industry. But the love affair didn’t last; by the end of the 19th century, as the industrial revolution increasingly took its toll on the environment, the colour came to be associated with toxicity and pollution. Ford Madox Brown, The Last of England, 1852-5. Oil on panel, 82.5 x 75cm. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Wassily Kandinsky, Improvisation 19, 1911. Oil on canvas, 120 x 141.5cm. Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München, Gabriele Münter Stiftung 1957.