Color Scheme - by Edith Young (Hardcover)

About the Book

"From the various shades of pink used by artists to describe the blush of Madame de Pompadour's cheeks to Helen Frankenthaler's orange color fields to Prince's concert costumes, Color Scheme is a collection of palettes that reveal new ways of thinking about larger arcs in visual culture"--

Book Synopsis

Change the way you see color forever in this dazzling collection of color palettes spanning art history and pop culture, and told in writer and artist Edith Young's accessible, inviting style.

From the shades of pink in the blush of Madame de Pompadour's cheeks to Prince's concert costumes, Color Scheme decodes the often overlooked color concepts that can be found in art history and visual culture. Edith Young's forty color palettes and accompanying essays reveal the systems of color that underpin everything we see, allowing original and, at times, even humorous themes to emerge. Color Scheme is the perfect book for anyone interested in learning more about, or rethinking, how we see the world around us.

Review Quotes

"Color Scheme: An Irreverent History of Art and Pop Culture in Color Palettes is a small wonder of incredible moments, equal parts art history and paradigm-shifting invention....If you love color, this book will speak directly to your soul."
- Design Milk

"[In] Edith Young's Color Scheme, the color palette becomes a vehicle to examine art history, popular culture, and the artist's own professional and artistic development....The primary allure...is Young's artwork and methodology, but the writing, at times both humorous and sophisticated, will get you to stay."
- The Brooklyn Rail

"Color Scheme--like Edith Young herself--is absolutely delightful. I have always found art history a bit intimidating: What if I have the wrong opinion? What if I'm interpreting this incorrectly? What if I don't 'get' it? Color Scheme waves all that nonsense away and welcomes you into the dinner party. (Speaking of which, I have the sneaking suspicion that having read this book will make me a far more interesting person to sit next to at dinner parties.)"
- Amelia Diamond, coauthor of Body Talk

"Edith Young's glorious color palettes turn an art historian's eye toward the colorful world around us--hairdos and costumes, paintings and backdrops. I love seeing what Edith sees, and this gorgeous book is a delight for all of us who like our lessons to be as whimsical and fun as they are studious and brilliant." - Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here and owner of Books Are Magic, Brooklyn, New York

"For all the books college students have to read for class, it's nice to have some decor books laying around that look nice and serve as a fun set of pages to flip through....For an artsy student, Color Scheme: An Irreverent History of Art and Pop Culture in Color Palettes is a great addition."- Insider

"My first job out of college was as a lowly assistant to the formidable fashion editor Diana Vreeland at Harper's Bazaar. I heard the daily pronouncements about color that Edith mentions in her fascinatingly researched book. How thrilling it is to look at and study color, wherever we find it, and to realize that this formerly abstract and overlooked aspect of our lives is actually a source of power and joy, all around us, everywhere. This book is a brilliant surprise, and I recommend it highly."
- Ali MacGraw, actress, Love Story

"This is art history looked at through an idiosyncratic, inquisitive, and highly personal lens. I've laughed my way through this book, and one thing is for sure: I'll never look at any painting (or ice skating costume, for that matter), in the same way again."
- Luke Edward Hall, artist, designer, and columnist

""Color Scheme acts as both coffee table book (due to its brilliant, clean, and perfectly minimal/maximal design) and historical retelling of color palettes' iconic moments in pop culture history--from Pete Davidson's Weekend Update shirts to Tonya Harding's figure skating costumes. It's witty, it's whimsical, and it will be very nice to thumb through when your brain needs an aesthetically pleasing break"
- SELF,

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""Color Scheme is a brilliant, smart examination of how we think about color, how material medium informs color, and how these ideas have changed over time....[S]hort, pithy, and fundamentally challenges how readers think about and internalize the colors that surround them."
- Glasstire,

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""A visually pleasing palette of colors and artworks."
- Library Journal,

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""Color surrounds us in everything we see but rarely do we ever stop to think how much it has influenced our visual culture. In Color Scheme, author Edith Young explores the history of 40 color palettes with originality and humor, forcing us to rethink the way we see the world around us. Whether she's examining shades of pink blush or Prince's colorful concert costumes, Young challenges us to take a second look at color."
- My Modern Met,

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""If art is your jam, you will want to run and get this book....Color Scheme is perfect for art enthusiasts, history buffs or anyone who is interested in doing a deeper dive into how we see the world around us through color."
- Cincinnati Enquirer,

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About the Author

Edith Young is an artist, designer, and writer who lives in New York City. She is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, and Color Scheme is her first book.