The Secret Lives of Color

Kassia St.Clair

I received this wonderful book, loaded with quotes and references about color from a dear friend over the holidays. It’ an engaging read and a useful resource, a suitable companion next to your Josef Alber’s, Interaction of Color and Johanne Itten’s,The Elements of Color. The Secret Lives of Color has a less didactic and scientific slant and instead gives you an historical context with an emotional perspective in comparison. The book covers over seventy-five colors that are broken up into colorful chapters from the spectrum, with a glossary at the end with more colors and details. I first skipped around to the unusual colors that caught my eye by flipping through the book and then read about the colors I love like Acid Yellow, Vermillion, and Prussian Blue. Kassia St.Clair writes a regular column on color for Elle Decoration.