A TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2022
Colours of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes takes the reader on a journey through history via 80 carefully curated artworks and their palettes. For these pieces, colour is not only a tool, but the fundamental secret to their success.
Colour allows artists to express their individuality, evoke certain moods and portray positive or negative subliminal messages. And throughout history the greatest of artists have experimented with new pigments and new technologies to lead movements and deliver masterpieces. But as something so cardinal, we sometimes forget how poignant colour palettes can be, and how much they can tell us.
Structured chronologically, Colours of Art provides a fun, intelligent and visually engaging look at the greatest artistic palettes in art history – from Rafael’s use of perspective and Vermeer’s ultramarine to Andy Warhol’s hot pinks and Lisa Brice’s blue women.
Colours of Art acts as a primer for artists, designers and art lovers who want to look at art history from a different perspective.
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‘Ashby is a superb guide to the OTT bombast of the baroque and the subtle shades of minimalism and monochrome painting. A rainbow book to raise the spirits in the darkest days of the year’
The Times
‘What a fresh way of looking at art this is … Excellent’
Daily Mail
‘Ashby has made a huge amount of information easy to digest’
The Arts Society
‘A whirlwind tour of artists’ use of colour’
Elephant Magazine
Look At This If You Love Great Art is a must read for anyone with a passion for exceptional art. Featuring 100 of the best artworks ever produced, inside is a collection of insightful summaries on just what it is that makes each one so vital.
Art writer Chloë Ashby talks you through the pieces that resonate with her, revealing the fascinating stories behind them and offering her considered take on why each work should be regarded as a pinnacle of artistic endeavour. With entries curated to offer a unique juxtaposition of styles, mediums and schools of art, expect a contemporary take on classic artworks, where titans of art history cross paths with under-appreciated examples from outside the traditional canon, and where rebellious visionaries blaze trails that still influence today’s cutting-edge artists.
Covering all the most important genres of art – Abstraction, Pop Art, Surrealism, Renaissance art, Impressionism and more – this engaging summary only deals with artworks that really matter and the reasons why you have to see them.
Buy Look At This If You Love Great Art here
‘Packed with insights into 100 “essential” pieces of art’
Elephant Magazine