Discover the tantalizing true stories behind your favorite colors.
For example: Cleopatra used saffron--a source of the color yellow--for seduction. Extracted from an Afghan mine, the blue "ultramarine" paint used by Michelangelo was so expensive he couldn't afford to buy it himself. Since ancient times, carmine red--still found in lipsticks and Cherry Coke today--has come from the blood of insects.

Reviews

A personal travelog that attempts to provide a history of artists' pigments, this first book by Hong Kong-based journalist Finlay is organized by color: ochre, red, orange, etc. Each chapter involves a first-person travel narrative to the source of a particular color and interactions with various interesting or quirky individuals, such as a peasant who directs Finlay to the saffron fields of rural Spain; few of the natives in the places she visits know about what she seeks. There are also some potted parts about the mining of various minerals (graphite, lapis lazuli, and the like), the historical economies of color-bearing substances, and the use of various colors over time. Unfortunately, this superficial book (the author asserts that the green walls in Napoleon's house on St. Helena "certainly helped drive him to his deathbed") adds little of value to the historical understanding of pigments, and the author's travels and observations are only intermittently interesting. Not recommended.-Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Libs. Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Defining color is a simple matter-visible light of a particular wavelength. Or is it? It turns out that the pigments and dyes responsible for hues have many remarkable characteristics, most of which we rarely ponder. Journalist Finlay's first book is a blend of travelogue and historical exploration about the myriad ways color takes on meaning for us, whether as a matter of aesthetics, economics, war or culture. The book has no overarching theme-it's all byways, an approach that works. Insofar as there is a thesis, it is that visual expression falls just behind procreation and the search for food and shelter as a fundamental human activity; countless peoples, Finlay reports, rank color and art among their primary concerns. During her journey, both literal and literary, Finlay learns of many little-known tribes and historical curiosities: too-trusting Puritans purchasing cheaply dyed black clothes destined to turn orange in a matter of weeks; the rise and heartbreaking fall of the art of the Pintupi tribe in barren central Australia during the 1970s; and the once-supreme economic clout of indigo from Bengal-to take just three examples among dozens. To delve into this book is to see the experimental, scientific side of the old masters and the artistic qualities of inventors and explorers. This is not a scientific work-those interested in rods and cones should look elsewhere. Thanks to Finlay's impeccable reportorial skills and a remarkable degree of engagement, this is an utterly unique and fascinating read. Illus., maps. (Jan.) Forecast: This could be a tough sell because it's hard to pin down-but Finlay writes with such flair that, with good reviews, she could find a dedicated audience. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.