WHAT IS COLOR?

An illustrator’s valentine to colors is a globe-spanning tribute to art and its many forms of expression.

Taking each hue on the color wheel in succession and wedging in chapters on pink, black, and white, Weinberg answers the titular question in a lively and thought-provoking if “superly duperly” simplified way: Color is art, science, a recipe, a feeling, language, time, change, and, well, “Everything!” Though he only passingly refers to artificial colors, the topics he addresses are fascinating and clearly explained, from the flora and fauna that humans have ground up to create natural pigments to the electromagnetic spectrum to the arsenic-laced green wallpaper that may have killed Napoleon. Rightly noting that different people and cultures actually see colors differently, the author presents examples of art from a broad range of places and eras. Readers can compare and contrast Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait or King Tut’s mask with the art of First Nations Australian painter Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Haida wood and stone carver Charles Edenshaw. Conducting his tour in “person,” Weinberg incorporates informally drawn images of himself and his dog throughout, tucking in other artist portraits as well, notably in a hilarious spread of Raphael’s School of Athens. The result is a winning, impressively comprehensive multidisciplinary take on the topic. Closing with a wealth of further information and resources, Weinberg includes lists of color-centric stories, plus recipes for making natural dyes (with adult help). People represented feature a wide range of skin tones.

A droll, effervescent, and wide-ranging work.