A comprehensive exploration of color in art and art history, with insights from philosophy, psychology, material science, and cultural history
Color has long been central to artistic practice, yet its study spans disciplines from science to philosophy. A Companion to Color brings together thirty essays from leading scholars worldwide, offering a multi-faceted examination of color in art history. Situating color within a broader intellectual framework, this groundbreaking volume integrates perspectives from material science, psychology, philosophy, and cultural history to deepen our understanding of the role of color in artistic expression while highlighting its wider significance in human perception in a variety of contexts.
Structured into six thematic sections, the Companion covers a breadth of topics, from the global diversity of thinking about color, as examined in Chinese and Indigenous traditions, to scientific investigations of tetrachromacy and the psychology of color preference. Discussions of materiality explore how pigments and dyes shape artistic practice, while essays on naturalism and autonomy examine the role of color in movements such as Bauhaus and Color Field painting. The essays also consider the use of color in on architecture, fashion, and the art market, offering fresh insights into historical and contemporary applications.
- Examines color from diverse perspectives, combining art-historical analysis with scientific, cultural, and philosophical approaches
- Investigates materiality and technological advancements in color, including Technicolor and digital reproduction
- Addresses the intersection of color and commerce, including its impact on industrial design
- Includes discussions on color in architecture, film, magazines, and contemporary visual culture
- Offers extensive contextual framing, making it an essential resource for interdisciplinary research on color
A Companion to Color is an essential resource for students and scholars in art history, fine art, and visual culture at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is also invaluable for museum and gallery professionals, curators, and educators seeking to deepen their understanding of color in artistic practice and cultural history.
Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xv
Notes on Contributors xvii
Preface xxiii
Series Editors Preface xxv
Acknowledgements xxvii
Introduction xxix
Judith Mottram
Part 1 Global Colour 1
1 Wittgenstein and the Conundrum of Theorising Colour 3
Paul Smith
2 Indigo, Blueness and the Moral Economy of Colour in South Asia 21
Jagjeet Lally
3 Colours of Contemporary Indigenous Art in Australia 36
Diana Young
4 The Chinese Five-element Five-colour Theory 55
Vien Cheung and Jinghong Wang
Part 2 Colour, Science, and Theory 73
5 Preference for Coloured Stimuli and the Colours of Art 75
Professor Anna Franklin
6 Art and the Curiosities of Color Vision 85
Kimberly A. Jameson
7 Colour Theory for Children 98
Alexandra Loske
8 Coloured Lighting and Perceived Atmosphere 113
Giulio Palma and Christoph Witzel
9 The Reproduction of Colour and Texture 130
Carinna Parraman
Part 3 Materiality 147
10 Material Science and Art in the Twenty-first Century 149
Stephen Westland
11 Colour and Materiality in the Victorian Age 158
Charlotte Ribeyrol
12 Eliot Elisofon: the Materiality of Colour in Photography, Technicolor
Film
and the Archive of Moulin Rouge (1953) 174
Liz Watkins
13 Art Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Pigments and Dyes in
Ukiyo-e Prints 192
Rhiannon Paget
14 The Rediscovery of the Lost Art of Lustre 207
Isabelle Gadoin
15 On the Changing Color of Paintings 223
Jennifer L. Mass
Part 4 Naturalism and Autonomy 243
16 Cezanne, Matisse and the Autonomy of Pictorial Colour 245
Paul Smith
17 Bauhaus Colour and its Legacy 262
Michael White
18 Color Field Painting: From Modernist Critique to Cultural Integration
278
Kenji Kajiya
19 On the Intersection Between Color and the Spiritual in Interwar German
Art and Architecture 292
Deborah Ascher Barnstone
20 Red in the Art of William Holman Hunt 308
Keren Rosa Hammerschlag
Part 5 The Environment 321
21 Adrian Stokes: Colour, Form and Materiality in the Architecture of Venice
323
Stephen Kite
22 Le Corbusiers Use of Colour in His Buildings 339
Tim Benton
23 Color Gradients in Modern Abstract Sculpture 356
Whitney Davis
24 Ruskin and the Science of Colour 374
Sandra Kemp and Victoria Kemp
25 The Derived Palette for Architecture 393
Fiona McLachlan
26 James Turrell and the Color of Light 406
Matthew Simms
Part 6 The Market 421
27 The Symbolism of Colours and Colour Value in the Art Market 423
Luc Renneboog and Yuexin Li
28 Colour in Residential Interiors During the British Interwar Period 441
Dr Becky Gooby
29 Colour in Traditional Textile Clothes from Thailand 460
Disaya Chudasri and Warin Boonyaputthipong
30 Color Forecasting and the Color Ensemble in Everyday Fashion, Design, and
Decoration 477
Regina Lee Blaszczyk
Index 495
JUDITH MOTTRAM is Professor of Visual Arts at Lancaster University. Her research focuses on color, drawing, and the intersections between creativity, research, and practice. Her writings have been widely published in journals and edited volumes, and she has a particular interest in how color is understood across disciplines.
PAUL SMITH is Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Warwick and an expert on color in nineteenth-century art. His publications include Seurat and the Avant-garde (1997) and Painting, Science, and the Perception of Coloured Shadows (2021). He has held fellowships at institutions such as the Getty Research Institute and has contributed to television and radio programmes on Impressionism and Delacroix.
