Color in Art

A wide-ranging and engaging introduction to the place and power of color in art.

Over the course of the past few centuries, the complex phenomenon of color has received detailed treatment from the perspectives of physics, chemistry, physiology, psychology, linguisitics, and philosophy. However, visual artiststhe people who work most closely with colorhave rarely been asked for their opinions about this ubiquitous but insolubly mysterious subject.

In his new book John Gage, author of the award-winning Color and Culture, focuses on the thoughts and practices of artists. Color in Art is concerned with the history of color, but is not itself a history; instead each chapter develops a theme from one of the aforementioned scientific disciplines from the viewpoint of artists such as Kandinsky, van Gogh, and Kapoor. Flags, synaesthesia, theosophy, theater design, chromotherapy, and chromophobia are among the many topics covered. 180 illustrations, 150 in color.