Color scheme An irreverent history of art and pop culture in color palettes

Edith Young

Book - 2021

"From the various shades of pink used by artists to describe the blush of Madame de Pompadour's cheeks to Helen Frankenthaler's orange color fields to Prince's concert costumes, Color Scheme is a collection of palettes that reveal new ways of thinking about larger arcs in visual culture."--

Saved in:

2nd Floor Show me where

701.85/Young
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 701.85/Young Checked In
Subjects
Published
New York : Princeton Architectural Press [2021].
Language
English
Main Author
Edith Young (author)
Other Authors
Zachery Fine (writer of foreword)
Edition
First edition
Item Description
"Foreword, Zachery Fine" -- page 8.
Physical Description
143 pages : color illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9781616899929
  • Foreword, Zachary Fine
  • Introduction
  • The reds of the red caps in Renaissance portraits, 1460-1535
  • The Artist's Palette
  • The blush of Madame de Pompadour's cheeks, 1746-63
  • Art History
  • The Art History Detective
  • The dresses worn by Velázquez's infantas
  • Frans Hals's ruff collars
  • Palettes
  • The pupils of the eyes in Vermeer's portraits, 1656-72
  • Caravaggio's Boy with a Basket of Fruit, 1593
  • The yellow bills in John James Audubon's
  • The Birds of America, 1827-38
  • The blue bills in John James Audubon's
  • The Birds of America, 1827-38
  • The roseate bills in John James Audubon's
  • The Birds of America, 1827-38
  • The blush of Marie Antoinette's cheeks
  • Thanksgiving in America, 1825-2009
  • Seascapes, arranged along one horizon line
  • The mountaintops of the diorama paintings in the American Museum of Natural History
  • Helen Frankenthaler's orange color fields
  • Charles Burchfield's violets and violas
  • The stripes in Alice Neel's portraits
  • The flesh tones of Lucian Freud's ex-wives
  • Fairfield Porter's skies
  • Contemporary Art
  • The Typologists
  • Palettes
  • The artist's palette, from Anguissola to Botero
  • The blues of David Hockney's pools
  • Botero's beverages
  • The paint on Kerry James Marshall's smocks
  • The greens of the garnishes in Wayne Thiebaud's still lifes
  • Etel Adnan's suns
  • John Currin's blondes
  • The letter "E" in Mel Bochner's paintings
  • Pop Culture
  • The Color Strategy
  • Palettes
  • Tonya Harding's figure skating costumes per competition
  • Prince's concert outfits
  • Paul Thomas Anderson's oeuvre
  • Craig Sager's suits, in chronological order over the course of his sportscasting career
  • Walt Frazier's suits, in chronological order over the course of his sportscasting career
  • Dennis Rodman's hair dye, in chronological order over the course of his NBA career
  • Title cards from the second season of Saturday Night Live, 1976-77
  • How Pete Davidson dresses from the waist up on Weekend Update
  • Spike Lee's eyeglasses, 1989-2020
  • CMYK Values
  • Acknowledgments
Review by Library Journal Review

This book about color is split into three sections: "Art History," "Contemporary Art," and "Pop Culture." The sections feature color palettes inspired by the likes of Audubon's birds, David Hockney's pools, and Prince's concert outfits. Each offers a series of named color blocks and an annotated image to start. For example, the page on Prince's concert outfits includes a color identified as "Purple Rain Tour, Joe Louis Arena, 1984." These colors can be cross-referenced to the CMYK listing at the back of the book. Young spends a few pages on color strategy and real-world examples for the book's palettes. Her easiest example to understand is the color palette of Le Creuset cookware; Young writes, "This color-centric strategy prevents the classic design of a well-known product from growing stale and outdated while keeping loyal customers engaged, ever tempted by the colorway that seems even newer, better, fresher, a touch more thrilling than the last." VERDICT A visually pleasing palette of colors and artworks. At times, the book is a bit too deep or ethereal for the everyday reader, not unlike walking through an art museum. But that isn't reason enough to deny this book a spot on any public library's shelves.--Beth Bland, Milwaukee

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.