No greater tale has remained untold than that of colour. We live in an age where almost every conceivable hue can be chemically manufactured, and is available off the shelf. Yet for thousands of years just a handful of pigments - many lacking in any brilliance, some lethally toxic - were all the artist's palette contained, and the quest to create new colours was at the centre of scientific and artistic endeavour. "Bright Earth" tells the extraordinary story of this quest. It provides a lucid, gripping explanation of exactly ...
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No greater tale has remained untold than that of colour. We live in an age where almost every conceivable hue can be chemically manufactured, and is available off the shelf. Yet for thousands of years just a handful of pigments - many lacking in any brilliance, some lethally toxic - were all the artist's palette contained, and the quest to create new colours was at the centre of scientific and artistic endeavour. "Bright Earth" tells the extraordinary story of this quest. It provides a lucid, gripping explanation of exactly how - through a mixture of primitive chemistry and luck -the ancient alchemists of colour were able to expand the artist's rainbow. Their sources were varied, and sometimes unlikely. Two of history's most prized colours - Tyrian purple and crimson - were derived, respectively, from a shellfish and a beetle. The search for new colour was fraught with mishaps and hazards, where the value of a particular shade of yellow had to be weighed against the potential for traces on your fingertips to kill you at your dinner table, and where an orange as glorious as distilled sunlight might fade to muddy brown by the next year. Yet the demand for bright and innovative colour drove the search ever forward. From the austere palette of the Ancient Greeks to the Romans' expensive passion for purple; through the glorious profusion of Renaissance art to the restrained pigments of Rembrandt and Velazquez; and from the Romantic painters' early forays into direct collaboration with chemists to the erratic and sometimes spectacular marriage of art and science in the 20th century, "Bright Earth" is the fascinating, beautifully illustrated story of the magic behind the canvas.
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Add this copy of Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour to cart. $24.80, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Vintage.
Add this copy of Bright Earth: the Invention of Colour to cart. $25.25, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Vintage.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. Clean from markings. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 500grams, ISBN: 9780099507130.
Add this copy of Bright Earth to cart. $26.46, new condition, Sold by Blackwell's rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Random House.
Add this copy of Bright Earth: the Invention of Colour to cart. $29.72, new condition, Sold by Kennys.ie rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Galway, IRELAND, published 2008 by Vintage.
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Seller's Description:
New. 2008. Paperback. Discusses 'colour in art', its inception, the progress made, and its influences on art. Num Pages: 448 pages, 3 x 8pp colour sections. BIC Classification: ABA; TDCJ; WFA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 196 x 136 x 29. Weight in Grams: 352......We ship daily from our Bookshop.
Add this copy of Bright Earth: the Invention of Colour to cart. $31.06, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Vintage.
Add this copy of Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour to cart. $31.37, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Vintage.
