Secret Lives of Colour
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Secret Lives of Colour
Secret Lives of Colour
The much loved design classic and Sunday Times bestseller, translated into 21 languages, EXPANDED INTO GLORIOUS TECHNICOLOUR with 25 NEW COLOURS and 33% EXTRA NEW MATERIAL
'A mind-expanding tour of the world without leaving your paintbox. Every colour has a story, and here are some of the most alluring, alarming, and thought-provoking. Very hard painting the hallway magnolia after this inspiring primer' SIMON GARFIELD
THE MODERN CLASSIC, NOW BOLDER, BRIGHTER AND WITH 25 NEW COLOURS.
The history of colour tells the vivid story of civilisation. From scarlet women to imperial purple, leaf green to the white paint that protected against the atom bomb, Picasso's blue period to the pink Barbie claimed for feminism, The Secret Lives of Colour offers a bright thread throughout human history.
Kassia St Clair's lifelong fascination with colours and where they come from (whether Van Gogh's chrome yellow sunflowers or Dorothy's ruby slippers) takes us on an unforgettable journey through our past, present and future.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781399823586
Publisher: John Murray Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 09 October 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
Illustration: 100 colours
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Width: 138.0mm
Height: 222.0mm
Weight: 960g
Pages: 448
About the Author
Kassia St Clair studied the history of women's dress and the masquerade during the eighteenth century at Bristol and Oxford. She has since written about design and culture for the Economist, House & Garden, TLS, Quartz and New Statesman, and has had a column about colour in Elle Decoration since 2013. Her first book The Secret Lives of Colour was a top-ten bestseller, a Radio 4 Book of the Week and has been translated into over a dozen languages; her second, The Golden Thread, was a Sunday Times Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Somerset Maugham Award. She lives in London.
www.kassiastclair.comAlso by Kassia St Clair
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