Color Scheme: An Irreverent History of Art and Pop Culture in Color Palettes

Product Description

Change the way you see color forever in this dazzling collection of color palettes spanning art history and pop culture, and told in writer and artist Edith Young’s accessible, inviting style.

From the shades of pink in the blush of Madame de Pompadour’s cheeks to Prince’s concert costumes,
Color Scheme decodes the often overlooked color concepts that can be found in art history and visual culture. Edith Young’s forty color palettes and accompanying essays reveal the systems of color that underpin everything we see, allowing original and, at times, even humorous themes to emerge.
Color Scheme is the perfect book for anyone interested in learning more about, or rethinking, how we see the world around us.

Review

“Edith Young’s glorious color palettes turn an art historian’s eye toward the colorful world around us—hairdos and costumes, paintings and backdrops. I love seeing what Edith sees, and this gorgeous book is a delight for all of us who like our lessons to be as whimsical and fun as they are studious and brilliant.”

– Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here and owner of Books Are Magic, Brooklyn, New York,

“This is art history looked at through an idiosyncratic, inquisitive, and highly personal lens. I’ve laughed my way through this book, and one thing is for sure: I’ll never look at any painting (or ice skating costume, for that matter), in the same way again.”
– Luke Edward Hall, artist, designer, and columnist,

“Color Scheme—like Edith Young herself—is absolutely delightful. I have always found art history a bit intimidating: What if I have the wrong opinion? What if I’m interpreting this incorrectly? What if I don’t ‘get’ it? Color Scheme waves all that nonsense away and welcomes you into the dinner party. (Speaking of which, I have the sneaking suspicion that having read this book will make me a far more interesting person to sit next to at dinner parties.)”
– Amelia Diamond, coauthor of Body Talk,

“My first job out of college was as a lowly assistant to the formidable fashion editor Diana Vreeland at Harper’s Bazaar. I heard the daily pronouncements about color that Edith mentions in her fascinatingly researched book. How thrilling it is to look at and study color, wherever we find it, and to realize that this formerly abstract and overlooked aspect of our lives is actually a source of power and joy, all around us, everywhere. This book is a brilliant surprise, and I recommend it highly.”
– Ali MacGraw, actress, Love Story,

“[In] Edith Young’s Color Scheme, the color palette becomes a vehicle to examine art history, popular culture, and the artist’s own professional and artistic development….The primary allure…is Young’s artwork and methodology, but the writing, at times both humorous and sophisticated, will get you to stay.”
–
The Brooklyn Rail ,

“A visually pleasing palette of colors and artworks.”
– Library Journal,

About the Author

Edith Young is an artist, designer, and writer who lives in New York City. She is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, and
Color Scheme is her first book.