
The Secret Lives of Color
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Narrated by:
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Kassia St. Clair
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By:
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Kassia St. Clair
About this listen
One of USA Today's “100 Books to Read While Stuck at Home During the Coronavirus Crisis"
The unforgettable, unknown history of colors and the vivid stories behind them.
“Beautifully written.... Full of anecdotes and fascinating research, this elegant compendium has all the answers.” (NPR, Best Books of 2017)
The Secret Lives of Color tells the unusual stories of 75 fascinating shades, dyes, and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso’s blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history.
In this book, Kassia St. Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colors and where they come from (whether Van Gogh’s chrome yellow sunflowers or punk’s fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilization. Across fashion and politics, art and war, the secret lives of color tell the vivid story of our culture.
“This passionate and majestic compedium will leave you bathed in the gorgeous optics of light.” (Elle)
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2017 Kassia St. Clair (P)2020 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Our lives are saturated by color. We live in a world of colors, and color marks our psychological and social existence. But for all color's ubiquity, we don't know much about it. Authors David Scott Kastan and Stephen Farthing offer a fresh and imaginative exploration of one of the most intriguing and least-understood aspects of everyday experience.
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Wow! Great.
- By Frances on 09-15-20
By: David Scott Kastan, and others
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Full Spectrum
- How the Science of Color Made Us Modern
- By: Adam Rogers
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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From kelly green to millennial pink, our world is graced with a richness of colors. But our human-made colors haven’t always matched nature’s kaleidoscopic array. To reach those brightest heights required millennia of remarkable innovation and a fascinating exchange of ideas between science and craft that’s allowed for the most luminous manifestations of our built and adorned world. In Full Spectrum, Rogers takes us on that globe-trotting journey, tracing an arc from the earliest humans to our digitized, synthesized present and future.
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Color, who knew?
- By Hawaiian 54 on 07-24-22
By: Adam Rogers
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Ninth Street Women
- Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art
- By: Mary Gabriel
- Narrated by: Lisa Stathoplos
- Length: 40 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Five women revolutionize the modern art world in postwar America in this "gratifying, generous, and lush" true story from a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist (Jennifer Szalai, New York Times). Set amid the most turbulent social and political period of modern times, Ninth Street Women is the impassioned, wild, sometimes tragic, always exhilarating chronicle of five women who dared to enter the male-dominated world of 20th-century abstract painting - not as muses but as artists.
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Painful pronunciation issues!
- By Curious Artist Librarian on 05-20-19
By: Mary Gabriel
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How to Be an Artist
- By: Jerry Saltz
- Narrated by: Jerry Saltz
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Art has the power to change our lives. For many, becoming an artist is a lifelong dream. But how to make it happen? In How to Be an Artist, Jerry Saltz, one of the art world’s most celebrated and passionate voices, offers an indispensable handbook for creative people of all kinds. From the first sparks of inspiration - and how to pursue them without giving in to self-doubt - Saltz offers invaluable insight into what really matters to emerging artists: originality, persistence, a balance between knowledge and intuition, and that most precious of qualities, self-belief.
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Terrible Book Waste of Money
- By Classic on 04-22-20
By: Jerry Saltz
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Art Is Life
- Icons and Iconoclasts, Visionaries and Vigilantes, and Flashes of Hope in the Night
- By: Jerry Saltz
- Narrated by: Jerry Saltz, Mark Bramhall
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Jerry Saltz is one of our most-watched writers about art and artists and a passionate champion of the importance of art in our shared cultural life. Since the 1990s he has been an indispensable cultural voice: Witty and provocative, he has attracted contemporary listeners to fine art as few critics have.
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WRONG for audio program
- By Karen Lehrer on 11-07-22
By: Jerry Saltz
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Color Psychology and Color Therapy
- A Factual Study of the Influence of Color on Human Life
- By: Faber Birren
- Narrated by: Dennis Rowley
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Color Psychology and Color Therapy: A Factual Study of the Influence of Color on Human Life (1950) is a book of color theory by renowned color expert Faber Birren. The work explores the impact of color on human behavior and emotions. Born in 1900 in Chicago, Illinois, Birren began studying color and art as a teen at the Art Institute of Chicago. He attended the University of Chicago as an education major but found that his interest was still in the world of color.
By: Faber Birren
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The Race to the Future
- 8000 Miles to Paris – The Adventure That Accelerated the Twentieth Century
- By: Kassia St. Clair
- Narrated by: Kassia St. Clair
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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More than its many adventures, the Peking-to-Paris Motor Challenge took place on the precipice of a new world. As the twentieth century dawned, imperial regimes in China and Russia were crumbling, paving the way for the rise of communist ones. The electric telegraph was rapidly transforming modern communication, and with it, the news media, commerce, and politics. Suspended between the old and the new, the Peking-to-Paris, as bestselling historian Kassia St. Clair writes, became a critical tipping point.
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Interesting story
- By Gingoldj on 02-25-25
By: Kassia St. Clair
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Last Light
- How Six Great Artists Made Old Age a Time of Triumph
- By: Richard Lacayo
- Narrated by: Mack Sanderson
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the nation’s top art critics shows how six great artists made old age a time of triumph by producing some of the greatest work of their long careers—and, in some cases, changing the course of art history. Though these six artists differed in many respects, they shared one thing: a determination to go on creating, driven not by the bounding energies of youth but by the ticking clock that would inspire them to produce some of their greatest masterpieces.
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An art history course in one slim book
- By LC on 02-19-23
By: Richard Lacayo
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Fabric
- The Hidden History of the Material World
- By: Victoria Finlay
- Narrated by: Carla Kissane
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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How is a handmade fabric helping save an ancient forest? Why is a famous fabric pattern from India best known by the name of a Scottish town? How is a Chinese dragon robe a diagram of the whole universe? What is the difference between how the Greek Fates and the Viking Norns used threads to tell our destiny? In Fabric, bestselling author Victoria Finlay spins us round the globe, weaving stories of our relationship with cloth and asking how and why people through the ages have made it, worn it, invented it, and made symbols out of it. And sometimes why they have fought for it.
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Perfect Book for Needleworking
- By LaVonne on 11-18-23
By: Victoria Finlay
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Jewels
- A Secret History
- By: Victoria Finlay
- Narrated by: Victoria Finlay
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout history, precious stones have inspired passions and poetry, quests and curses, sacred writings and unsacred actions. In this scintillating book, journalist Victoria Finlay embarks on her own globe-circling search for the real stories behind some of the gems we prize most. Blending adventure travel, geology, exciting new research, and her own irresistible charm, Finlay has fashioned a treasure hunt for some of the most valuable, glamorous, and mysterious substances on earth.
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Exotic Gemstone Destinations
- By Elsie Arlene on 04-26-25
By: Victoria Finlay
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Eyeliner
- A Cultural History
- By: Zahra Hankir
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From the distant past to the present, with fingers and felt-tipped pens, metallic powders and gel pots, humans have been drawn to lining their eyes. The aesthetic trademark of figures ranging from Nefertiti to Amy Winehouse, eyeliner is one of our most enduring cosmetic tools; ancient royals and Gen Z beauty influencers alike would attest to its uniquely transformative power. It is undeniably fun—yet it is also far from frivolous.
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Great appreciation
- By Sarah on 03-31-24
By: Zahra Hankir
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The Dress Diary
- Secrets from a Victorian Woman's Wardrobe
- By: Kate Strasdin
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1838, a young woman was given a diary on her wedding day. Collecting snippets of fabric from a range of garments—some her own, others donated by family and friends—she carefully annotated each one, creating a unique record of their lives. Her name was Mrs. Anne Sykes. Nearly two hundred years later, the diary fell into the hands of Kate Strasdin, a fashion historian and museum curator. Using her expertise, Strasdin spent the next six years unraveling the secrets contained within the album's pages, and the lives of the people within.
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Fascinating History
- By Cpm405 on 01-09-24
By: Kate Strasdin
What listeners say about The Secret Lives of Color
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- Chloe B
- 10-15-23
Super interesting!
Filled with cool stories, I completely enjoyed and am listening again it’s so full of knowledge!
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- Pookie
- 02-27-24
Wonderful read
A loooot of information packed perfectly and succinctly. Loved this book. Narration was fantastic as well. 5 stars .
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- Anonymous User
- 04-09-25
Great listen!
Loved all the stories about color. We live in a world saturated with color we don’t always realize it has to come from somewhere. I have a new appreciation for dye makers, artists, and God/nature. Author is a great narrator as well.
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- BErvin
- 09-10-24
Wonderful! Entertaining , informative and thought provoking!
This book was such a surprise! Well written, well read and researched. As a art teacher and artist I am intimately involved with color and the broad spectrum (no pun intended) of what they can do. Once I heard the stories that surround the making and naming of each - individually- it was pure magic! What a task- and what research! And to make it so entertaining! I am always looking for stories to keep my Art History classes awake at 8am. I will definitely listen to each of these, oh so familiarly named colors again and again.Thank you!
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2 people found this helpful
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- VERONICA
- 05-13-23
Very entertaining!
Really enjoyed listening this audiobook! Wonderfully narrated, information is so easy to absorb! Now I actually Google the color codes of the colors I’ve learned about to use in my business marketing. Loved this!
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- Adam
- 08-28-21
Fascinating
Fasscinating stories of colors! Thd only difficulty with audio is not seeing the colors.
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2 people found this helpful
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- A.H. Derman
- 06-25-24
The Things We Do for Color
I loved the degree of research and how her passion for color shines through in every chapter.
I also loved her seamless integration of fact and quotes into all the ways in which we take color and chemistry for granted.
However, the book was organized by hue and shade, and this made certain sections repetitive. For instance, ultramarine, indigo, woad and Prussian blue all have overlaps that become difficult to read because they are separate sections and that means certain facts naturally recur.
Overall, the depth and beauty of her research and writing, as well as her voice and narration as bonuses makes me recommend this book without hesitation.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Yarngirl52
- 05-07-22
I am a dyer, weaver, and spinner
I have become fascinated with color since I began spinning hand dyed wool top. The colors were so vivid and striking! But then gold became plied with purple and the resulting vest is too bold for me! What happened!? I learned about value and complementary colors the hard way. Since then, I have made an effort to learn as much about color, especially about how they interact.
This book touches on many dyes: indigo, madder, cochineal, woad, weld,and others. However, the focus is generally on paints because many of the colors come from minerals (cobalt, iron, gold, lapis lazuli, etc. ) or earths (ochres and clays).
The secret life of color is also a history. When did the color come into and out of fashion? Avocado, anyone? Did girls always wear pink? Not at first; they wore blue and boys wore pink.
The accompanying PDF file offers more colors than were discussed in the book. I still don't know what puce is.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Cal
- 06-01-22
Put Down Your Brush
If you're an artist, put down your brush and savor this fascinating book. You will learn some amazing facts about your favorite colors and be introduced to esoteric colors that you have never heard of. This book may even give you a profound appreciation for the pigments that you can buy so easily today, without risking life, limb and fortune. I'm an artist and loved this book!!
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1 person found this helpful
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- RC More
- 06-09-22
Enjoyed it as short stories
I had never before contemplated the history and methods of various pigment manufacturing. Fascinating stories.
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