A unique approach to art history told through colour and pigments

Did you know that the shimmering ultramarine at the centre of Vermeer's The Milk of Vermeer connects this masterpiece to the 6th century Zoroastrian paintings found on the walls of the cave temples of Bamiyan, Afghanistan? Or that the roaring waves that rise and curve in Kanagawade Hokusai's haunting The Great Wave owe their hypnotic blue glow to an alchemist born in Castle Frankenstein in 1673? And that the Pre-Raphaelites were actually obsessed with a murky brown hue derived from the pulverised remains of ancient mummies? (Spoiler: they were).

From prehistoric cavemen to medieval alchemists, cunning con artists to brilliant scientists, the colours of art tell a fascinating story of their own. Over the course of ten captivating chapters, renowned author Kelly Grovier brings this story to life, revealing the astonishing origins of the pigments that have defined art history's masterpieces.

Woven throughout these chapters are special sections on key moments in the evolution of colour theory, from the revelations of the Enlightenment to the radicalism of the Bauhaus. In addition, reproductions of carefully selected works help illuminate the twists and surprises of the narrative.

The history of colour is an epic of human ingenuity and insatiable desire. Read this book and you will never look at a work of art the same way again.

Publisher: Thames and Hudson