Love, oh love, oh bloody love! So intense, so beautiful, so treacherous
so red... The new book Red: The History of a Color by Michel Pastoureau ... considers red in all its manifold guises. A richly and imaginatively illustrated survey filled with history, lore, religion, science, cosmetics, archaeology, medicine, alchemy, superstition, magic, linguistics, and even recipes for pigments, the book ambitiously ... Read moretraverses the centuries from prehistoric times to the present.
Barbara A. MacAdam, ARTnews Pastoureau is the world's most distinguished and influential historian of colour, and ... his life's work on the symbolism of the spectrum is one of the great humane projects of our day.
Kevin Jackson, Literary Review Pastoureau ... deftly weaves a tapestry that takes in not just the history of Western art, but also etymology, fairy tales and even the origins of modern road signage in heraldry. There can be no doubting his passion.
Stephen Patience, World of Interiors Red is the color of lovers, blood, and anguish, and often signifies intensity. It is no doubt one of the most important colors in our history. Michel Pastoureau examines its significance through a slew of analytical essays and photographs that reveal the complex and, at times, controversial nature of the color and its relation to other hues.
Metropolis Gorgeous... [A] splendid book, beautiful to look at and fascinating to read.
Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe Does the warning red of our stop signs burble up from the color's association with medieval morality? Does the emergence of red as an ideological identity in right-wing American politics have some echo of the color's use as a symbol of power, such as the red cloak of Charlemagne and the Phrygian cap of the French Revolution? Michel Pastoureau's Red: The History of a Color, recently released by Princeton University Press, is a concise biography of the complex symbolism and perception of this hue of blood and fire.
Allison Meier, Hyperallergic Beautifully and imaginatively illustrated ... Red is less a theory than a very readable compendium of fascinating facts... Red contains more than enough engrossing diversions that act like a traffic light and bring you to a stop.
Michael Prodger, The Times Superb.
Vanity Fair A wonderful book.
Le Figaro Magazine A heady story of colors.
Telerama An exciting cultural journey through the color red.
La vie A rich and exciting story, a transversal approach, accessible to all.
Le Journal des Arts A captivating human, sociological and spiritual history.
Connaissance des Arts Show Less