The Secret Lives of Color

Kassia St Clair — 2017

The unforgettable, unknown history of colors and the vivid stories behind them in a beautiful multi-colored volume The Secret Lives of Color tells the unusual stories of seventy-five fascinating shades, dyes and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso's blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history. In this book, Kassia St. Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colors and where they come from (whether Van Gogh's chrome yellow sunflowers or punk's fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilization. Across fashion and politics, art and war, the secret lives of color tell the vivid story of our culture. "A mind-expanding tour of the world without leaving your paintbox. Every color has a story, and here are some of the most alluring, alarming, and thought-provoking." --Simon Garfield, author of Just My Type

Reviews

Hannah Yang@hannahyang

Sep 18, 2023

A very cute coffee table book containing a collection of stories about different colors, but far from a "unique study of human civilization" -- there is no clear, overarching story being told about culture here (besides our history of accidentally poisoning people with paint). Some of the shades like Baker-Miller pink and Mummy were quite interesting, I appreciated the interdisciplinary effort, and I think this would be a fun reference to flip through for artists. However, I didn't get much out of The Secret Lives of Color and would rather read a more in-depth book about colors / color theory.

Stephanie Highfield @shighfi

Sep 13, 2022

Fascinating and beautiful. Couldn’t put it down.

Katy Watkins@katy

Sep 6, 2022

I’ve never thought about the origins of colors before, so this was fascinating. Easy to read in small chunks. And it’s a great book to have a physical copy of, the edge of each page are colored, which makes for a lovely rainbow effect.

Sheila@duchess

Feb 7, 2022

A fascinating exploration of the histories behind a handful of colours that have made a deep impression on human culture from the Neolithic to the present. I learned so much about colours I had taken for granted! This was a great read and I would honestly love to see a sequel.