The Book of Colour Concepts

From the 17th century to the advent of the digital age, color theories have been illustrated with opulent wheels, polychrome charts, and meticulous diagrams. Gathering over 40 works from around the world, with more than 350 images, this edition traces the many hues of a subject that inspired Newton, Goethe, Sanzō Wada, the Bauhaus, and many more.

Seminal works of color theory, such as Isaac Newton’s Opticks and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s hugely significant Zur Farbenlehre, are shown alongside rare and unfamiliar contributions, including the theosophical color systems of Charles Webster Leadbeater and Annie Besant, the comprehensive color ‘dictionary’ of Aloys John Maerz and Morris Rea Paul, and the patchwork combinations of the Japanese costume designer and artist Sanzō Wada.

This volume also brings many intriguing and often overlooked works by women into the spotlight, including the radically inventive colour “blots” of the English flower painter Mary Gartside.

The color systems that make up this edition are contextualized by an introductory essay from Alexandra Loske, while authoritative texts on the works reproduced set out each concept in further detail. Illuminating the history of color in all its shapes and forms, The Book of Colour Concepts offers a chromatic chronology unparalleled in scope.