E-Books →Black The History of a Color

Black―favorite color of priests and penitents, artists and ascetics, fashion designers and fascists―has always stood for powerfully opposed ideas: authority and humility, sin and holiness, rebellion and conformity, wealth and poverty, good and bad. In this beautiful and richly illustrated book, the acclaimed author of Blue now tells the fascinating social history of the color black in Europe.

For Pastoureau, the history of any color must be a social history first because it is societies that give colors everything from their changing names to their changing meanings―and black is exemplary in this regard. In dyes, fabrics, and clothing, and in painting and other art works, black has always been a forceful―and ambivalent―shaper of social, symbolic, and ideological meaning in European societies.
With its striking design and compelling text, Black will delight anyone who is interested in the history of fashion, art, media, or design.