Author(s): Alexandra Loske

Art | Design

Discover the story of colour through the significant scientific discoveries and key artist's works over 400 years.

From Isaac Newton's investigations through to Olafur Eliasson's experiential creations, this stunning book documents the fascinating story of colour with an extraordinary collection of original colour material that includes charts, wheels, artists' palettes, swatches and schemes.

"In 1704, the scientist Isaac Newton published Opticks, the result of many years of researching light and colour. By splitting white light, Newton identified the visible range of colours, or the rainbow spectrum. In Opticks, he built a colour system around his findings, and he visualised this system in a circular shape, making it one of the first printed colour wheels.

The influence of Newton and his followers, combined with the invention of many new pigments as well as watercolours in moist cake form, had made painting with colour an exciting occupation not just for serious artists but also for a much wider audience. The colour revolution had begun."

Contents: Introduction, 1. Unravelling the Rainbow: The Eighteenth-Century Colour Revolution, 2. Romantic Ideas & New Technologies: The Early Nineteenth Century, 3. Industrialism to Impressionism: The Later Nineteenth Century, 4. Colour for Colour's Sake: Colour into the Future, Glossary, Bibliography, Index

Author Biography: Alexandra Loske is an art historian, curator and editor with a particular interest in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century European art and architecture. She was born and grew up in Germany, came to England in 1997 and has been working at the University of Sussex since 1999. She has lectured and published widely on the history of art, and colour in particular. Since 2015 she has been a curator at the Royal Pavilion & Brighton Museums and has curated a number of exhibitions and displays.