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by: Philip Ball  List Price: $18.00 Amazon.com's Price: $12.24 You Save: $5.76 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 701.85 EAN: 9780226036281 Edition: 1 ISBN: 0226036286 Label: University Of Chicago Press Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 424 Publication Date: April 15, 2003 Publisher: University Of Chicago Press Studio: University Of Chicago Press Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: The making of a painting relies on inspiration, craft, practice, and vision. But, observes the noted science writer Philip Ball, it also hinges on science: "For as long as painters have fashioned their visions and dreams into images, they have relied on technical knowledge and skill to supply their materials." In this lively study, Ball examines some of the tools and materials that chemists have added to the palette over the centuries. He also takes his readers on a learned tour of what science has taught us about vision, the nature of light, and the physical and cultural factors that condition our perceptions of color (the ancient Romans, he notes, had no term for brown or gray, but that does not mean they didn't use earth pigments in their work). Whether writing of matters scientific or artistic, Ball is a technologist but not a determinist. In the end, he writes, art depends not on science but on artists, and "each artist makes his or her own contract with the colors of the time." Readers with an interest in science, art, and the crossroads where they meet will relish Ball's erudite travels across the spectrum of light. --Gregory McNamee Product Description: From Egyptian wall paintings to the Venetian Renaissance, impressionism to digital images, Philip Ball tells the fascinating story of how art, chemistry, and technology have interacted throughout the ages to render the gorgeous hues we admire on our walls and in our museums. Finalist for the 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award. Average Rating:
 Rating: - Interesting history, simplistic art appreciationThat the materials affects the art seems to be the theme that tries to tie together the disparate parts of this rambling volume. We sometimes assume that at least since the middle ages artists have been able to paint in an almost infinite number of colors, and that at least until modern times they always tried to use colors that reproduced reality as closely as possible. As Ball explains, neither assumption is true. Even as recently as 100 years or so ago, artists' palettes were constrained ... Read More Rating:  - Bright EarthBright Earth is about the long history of paint, not as much as art and painting but of paint itself, and the amazing history people have with visual art. Focusing on the machanics of paint, where the pigments came from, possible ways people discovered paint, and how different pigments interact with their binders, this is a very intersting and informative book on the technical aspects of visual art, but the book is more. It deals also with the historic aspect of color and how cultural ... Read More Rating: - Ultramarine, vermilion... A history of pigmentsIt is not easy to classify this book, I would not say it is a science book, what the title "the invention of colour" would suggest, nor an art history. It is more a history of dyes and pigments and how they were used by artists of different ages. It explains how the availability of materials shaped the artists' palette and how the artists of different periods chose among the available pigments to create and shape their own colour style. Avant garde painters took advantage of the discovery of new pigments ... Read More Rating: - History of paint and pigmentsColour is easy to take as grant. However, the great painters of the history worked often with a very limited palettes, as good pigments simply weren't invented. The best blues and reds were very valuable, which defined the ways they were used in medieval painting. There's plenty of detail in the history of art that can be explained by the economics and chemistry of paint. Philip Ball is a chemist and painters will learn a lot of chemistry from this book. Chemists will learn about art and painting and curious ... Read More Rating: - A bright subjectBright Earth gives a detailed history of the development of colour as used in art (painting primarily). It is well written and easy to read but perhaps tends a little towards being a pedantic. Nevertheless it is very helpful in understanding colour and its use in art through the ages. 
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