An Exceedingly Surprising Book About Colour

Looking to make colour and how it shapes the world even less invisible, Stewarts new book Roy G. Biv (geddit?) looks to uncover the mysteries surrounding colour and its usage.

Drawing on the wisdom of designers, artists, historians, scientists and a raft of other colour enthusiasts, the book certainly reveals some interesting facts – if in a rather scattergun approach.

For instance, we learn that the reason most brides wear white is apparently thanks to Queen Victoria, who popularised the fashion after her 1840 wedding to Prince Albert, when she sported white Honiton lace.

We also learn, by way of a quote, that The Birds director Alfred Hitchcock was ‘frightened of eggs’, and had ‘never tasted’ their ‘yellow, revolting’ yolk.

Essentially, the book is a collection of stories about colour; seemingly unconnected, yet undoubtedly interesting spatters drawn together simply because they relate to the huge, amorphous world of colour.

The book itself is colourful, teeming with illustrations that the author says, are ‘intentionally abstract: colour in its purest form.’

It’s also peppered with some lovely quotes (albeit alongside some gift shop fridge magnet-type ones), such as artist Henri Matisse’s assertion that ‘a thimbleful of red is redder than a bucketful’.

Roy G. Biv: An Exceedingly Surprising Book About Colour by Jude Stewart is published on 21 November by Bloomsbury priced £14.99