Atelier Editions

An engrossing look at the rich and turbulent history of coloring cloth Over the centuries our manipulation of the natural world has resulted in an explosion of synthetic dye production and application globally. To gain insight into the history of how folk practices have been lost and technical processes found, anthropologist and textile artist Lauren MacDonald explores a practice that is both ancient and wholly modern: coloring cloth. The pursuit of color has long spurred economic and social contest, and through this deeply researched volume we explore the stories that the materials used to dye cloth tell us about our complex relationship to nature, our troubling ideas about progress and our understanding of power and labor. In Pursuit of Color brings together historic techniques, archive photography, specimens and present-day events to tell the histories of some of the world’s most important dyestuffs. A 32-page supplement accompanies the volume, detailing practical applications and the chemistry behind dyeing processes. The book comes in three different covers (red, yellow and blue) which are shipped randomly as a further happy surprise.

The Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museums encompasses over 2,500 of the world's rarest pigments. Museum director Edward Forbes started the collection at the turn of the 20th century, in order to preserve the early Italian paintings he had begun to collect. Over the years, the collection grew into a huge apothecary of bottles and beakers, as other art lovers and color experts donated their own pigments. Today the collection continues to grow, and regularly helps experts across the world to research and authenticate paintings. Visually excavating the museums' extraordinary collection, An Atlas of Rare & Familiar Colour examines the contained pigments and artefacts--their provenance, composition, symbology and application. It also explores the larger related fields of chromatics, the historical narratives of art and chemistry, and the innovations with which we have sought to better illustrate our aesthetic and expressive compulsions. The book includes a foreword by renowned British color author Victoria Finlay. "An encyclopedic photobook of poised still lifes, where each phial, herb and pigment-filled container becomes a character, narrating the fascinating history of color." -Wallpaper