A color may be a specific mix of dyes or pigments, but that may not be how it looks when seen or when remembered as afterimages. While in charge of Gobelin's dyestuffs and coloring, color theorist M.E. Chevreul saw that tapestry blacks looking black depended upon contrast with nearby colors. All 19th- and 20th-century artists have been sorting out COLOR PERCEPTION IN ART form, pattern, and design. Joseph Mallory Turner ended up being the greatest influence through it all, because of the spectrum he learned from Claude Lorrain's luminous sunsets and Moses Harris's pioneer printed full hue color circle. Author Faber Birren includes studies on how chromatic illumination, iridescence, luminosity, luster, and transparency affect color hues, tints, and tones. His unique book and William Gaunt's TURNER are learning experiences that make for smooth reading of Jim Ames' COLOR THEORY MADE EASY, Albert Handell's INTUITIVE LIGHT, Johannes Itten's THE ART OF COLOR, Trevor Lamb's COLOUR, Charles LeClair's COLOR IN CONTEMPORARY PAINTING, or Stephen Quiller's COLOR CHOICES.

Birren has thoroughly researched the use of color in art and the theories of how color and its combinations work. Here you can find how color is used in diverse applications from old masterpieces to optical art, and learn how to combine colors to achieve luster, luminosity, etc. Interesting theory with practical applications.

The last chapter of this book is informative and interesting on why people prefer certain colors. The rest of the book deals with metaphysics and psycho-babble.

This book is an excellent tool for gaining an understanding the broad implications of color's effects on humans. It deals with everything from the scientific to the mystic. It is well organized and easy to understand. I highly reccommend this book to anyone who is interested in the differnt facets of color and its realtions to people, both physiologically and psychologically.

I'm not sure about all editions of this book but the one that I own (paperback...) has NO color inside at all! Who ever heard of a book on the subject of color that didn't include any? What were they thinking? I'm sure it's a fascinating read but if someone is interested enough in color to read this hefty tome, you've got to think they might also enjoy looking at it too. This is an oversized thick book which is at least 95% text. There are very few black & white diagrams either.