-
The Secret Lives of Colour
- Narrated by: Kassia St Clair
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Art
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $21.81
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Golden Thread
- How Fabric Changed History
- By: Kassia St. Clair
- Narrated by: Helen Johns
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From colorful 30,000-year-old threads found on the floor of a Georgian cave to the Indian calicoes that sparked the Industrial Revolution, The Golden Thread weaves an illuminating story of human ingenuity. Design journalist Kassia St. Clair guides us through the technological advancements and cultural customs that would redefine human civilization - from the fabric that allowed mankind to achieve extraordinary things (traverse the oceans and shatter athletic records) and survive in unlikely places (outer space and the South Pole).
-
-
Excellent for those interested in textiles
- By Adeliese Baumann on 12-14-19
By: Kassia St. Clair
-
Women's Work
- The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times
- By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibers. In fact, right up to the Industrial Revolution the fiber arts were an enormous economic force, belonging primarily to women. Despite the great toil required in making cloth and clothing, most books on ancient history and economics have no information on them. Much of this gap results from the extreme perishability of what women produced, but it seems clear that until now descriptions of prehistoric and early historic cultures have omitted virtually half the picture.
-
-
If you want to know what women were doing…
- By A.B. Normal on 07-24-20
-
The 99% Invisible City
- A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
- By: Kurt Kohlstedt, Roman Mars
- Narrated by: Roman Mars
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
99% Invisible is a big-ideas podcast about small-seeming things, revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive, and the sidewalks we traverse. The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs.
-
-
Absolutely amazing
- By ariel stanley on 10-08-20
By: Kurt Kohlstedt, and others
-
How Colors Affect You: What Science Reveals
- By: William Lidwell, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: William Lidwell
- Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A must-have course for corporate leaders, design professionals, marketers, and anyone else who communicates visually, How Colors Affect You tells you everything you need to know about the science of color and its impact on all aspects of human experience. These lectures will give you a beautiful new perspective on color - one rooted in credible scientific knowledge and not popular myth.
-
-
Something fishy here
- By CS on 05-14-19
By: William Lidwell, and others
-
What Are You Looking At?
- The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art
- By: Will Gompertz
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is modern art? Who started it? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it such big money? Join BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz on a dazzling tour that will change the way you look at modern art forever. From Monet's water lilies to Van Gogh's sunflowers, from Warhol's soup cans to Hirst's pickled shark, hear the stories behind the masterpieces, meet the artists as they really were, and discover the real point of modern art.
-
-
Outstanding History of Modern Art
- By Earth Lover on 07-24-20
By: Will Gompertz
-
Vanishing Fleece
- Adventures in American Wool
- By: Clara Parkes
- Narrated by: Clara Parkes
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Join Clara Parkes on a cross-country adventure and meet a cast of characters that includes the shepherds, dyers, and countless workers without whom our knitting needles would be empty, our mills idle, and our feet woefully cold. Travel the country with her as she meets a flock of Saxon Merino sheep in upstate New York, tours a scouring plant in Texas, visits a steamy Maine dyehouse, helps sort freshly shorn wool on a working farm, and learns how wool fleece is measured, baled, shipped, and turned into skeins.
-
-
Great Book.
- By Josemiguel Gomez on 03-02-20
By: Clara Parkes
-
The Golden Thread
- How Fabric Changed History
- By: Kassia St. Clair
- Narrated by: Helen Johns
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From colorful 30,000-year-old threads found on the floor of a Georgian cave to the Indian calicoes that sparked the Industrial Revolution, The Golden Thread weaves an illuminating story of human ingenuity. Design journalist Kassia St. Clair guides us through the technological advancements and cultural customs that would redefine human civilization - from the fabric that allowed mankind to achieve extraordinary things (traverse the oceans and shatter athletic records) and survive in unlikely places (outer space and the South Pole).
-
-
Excellent for those interested in textiles
- By Adeliese Baumann on 12-14-19
By: Kassia St. Clair
-
Women's Work
- The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times
- By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibers. In fact, right up to the Industrial Revolution the fiber arts were an enormous economic force, belonging primarily to women. Despite the great toil required in making cloth and clothing, most books on ancient history and economics have no information on them. Much of this gap results from the extreme perishability of what women produced, but it seems clear that until now descriptions of prehistoric and early historic cultures have omitted virtually half the picture.
-
-
If you want to know what women were doing…
- By A.B. Normal on 07-24-20
-
The 99% Invisible City
- A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
- By: Kurt Kohlstedt, Roman Mars
- Narrated by: Roman Mars
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
99% Invisible is a big-ideas podcast about small-seeming things, revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive, and the sidewalks we traverse. The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs.
-
-
Absolutely amazing
- By ariel stanley on 10-08-20
By: Kurt Kohlstedt, and others
-
How Colors Affect You: What Science Reveals
- By: William Lidwell, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: William Lidwell
- Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A must-have course for corporate leaders, design professionals, marketers, and anyone else who communicates visually, How Colors Affect You tells you everything you need to know about the science of color and its impact on all aspects of human experience. These lectures will give you a beautiful new perspective on color - one rooted in credible scientific knowledge and not popular myth.
-
-
Something fishy here
- By CS on 05-14-19
By: William Lidwell, and others
-
What Are You Looking At?
- The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art
- By: Will Gompertz
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is modern art? Who started it? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it such big money? Join BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz on a dazzling tour that will change the way you look at modern art forever. From Monet's water lilies to Van Gogh's sunflowers, from Warhol's soup cans to Hirst's pickled shark, hear the stories behind the masterpieces, meet the artists as they really were, and discover the real point of modern art.
-
-
Outstanding History of Modern Art
- By Earth Lover on 07-24-20
By: Will Gompertz
-
Vanishing Fleece
- Adventures in American Wool
- By: Clara Parkes
- Narrated by: Clara Parkes
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Join Clara Parkes on a cross-country adventure and meet a cast of characters that includes the shepherds, dyers, and countless workers without whom our knitting needles would be empty, our mills idle, and our feet woefully cold. Travel the country with her as she meets a flock of Saxon Merino sheep in upstate New York, tours a scouring plant in Texas, visits a steamy Maine dyehouse, helps sort freshly shorn wool on a working farm, and learns how wool fleece is measured, baled, shipped, and turned into skeins.
-
-
Great Book.
- By Josemiguel Gomez on 03-02-20
By: Clara Parkes
-
Fibershed
- Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy
- By: Rebecca Burgess
- Narrated by: Tia Rider
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is a major disconnect between what we wear and our knowledge of its impact on land, air, water, labor, and human health. Even those who value access to safe, local, nutritious food have largely overlooked the production of fiber, dyes, and the chemistry that forms the backbone of modern textile production. While humans are 100 percent reliant on their second skin, it’s common to think little about the biological and human cultural context from which our clothing derives.
-
-
Great with two notes for improvement
- By shannanigans on 04-20-20
By: Rebecca Burgess
-
Francis Bacon in Your Blood
- By: Michael Peppiatt
- Narrated by: Michael Peppiatt
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Peppiatt met Francis Bacon in June 1963 in Soho's French House to request an interview for a student magazine he was editing. Bacon invited him to lunch, and over oysters and Chablis they began a friendship and a no-holds-barred conversation that would continue until Bacon's death 30 years later. Fascinated by the artist's brilliance and charisma, Peppiatt accompanied him on his nightly round of prodigious drinking from grand hotel to louche club and casino, seeing all aspects of Bacon's 'gilded gutter life' and meeting everybody around him.
-
-
Absolutely delicious!
- By hester on 09-14-18
By: Michael Peppiatt
-
The Art Spirit
- By: Henri Robert
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its first publication in 1923, The Art Spirit has been a source of inspiration for artists and creatives, from David Lynch to George Bellows. Filled with valuable technical advice, as well as wisdom about the place of art and the artist in American society, this classic work continues to be a must-listen for anyone interested in the power of creation and the beauty of art.
-
-
Forever a classic.
- By YK akin on 11-09-19
By: Henri Robert
-
Concerning the Spiritual in Art
- By: Wassily Kandinsky
- Narrated by: Michael Scott
- Length: 53 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian-born artist, was one of the first creators of pure abstraction in modern painting. His forms evolved from fluid and organic, to geometric, and finally to pictographic. Kandinsky was also an accomplished musician and believed in the concept that color and musical harmony are linked. He even claimed that when he saw color he heard music. Listen to this abridged audio of his insightful writing.
-
-
Not the entire book, waste
- By Jimmy L on 10-04-20
-
Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light, 100 Art Writings 1988-2018
- By: Peter Schjeldahl, Jarrett Earnest - introduction
- Narrated by: Peter Schjeldahl
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hot Cold Heavy Light collects 100 writings - some long, some short - that taken together form a group portrait of many of the world’s most significant and interesting artists. From Pablo Picasso to Cindy Sherman, Old Masters to contemporary masters, paintings to comix, and saints to charlatans, Schjeldahl ranges widely through the diverse and confusing art world, an expert guide to a dazzling scene.
-
-
needs pictures
- By Petra Juarez on 02-19-20
By: Peter Schjeldahl, and others
-
Cræft
- An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts
- By: Alexander Langlands
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Craeft, archaeologist and medieval historian Alexander Langlands argues that our modern understanding of craft only skims the surface. His journeys from his home in Wales have taken him along the Atlantic seaboard of Europe, from Spain through France and England to Scotland and Iceland in search of the lost meaning of craft.
-
-
yes!
- By Xander on 04-04-19
-
How to Be an Artist
- By: Jerry Saltz
- Narrated by: Jerry Saltz
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Art has the power to change our lives. For many, becoming an artist is a lifelong dream. But how to make it happen? In How to Be an Artist, Jerry Saltz, one of the art world’s most celebrated and passionate voices, offers an indispensable handbook for creative people of all kinds. From the first sparks of inspiration - and how to pursue them without giving in to self-doubt - Saltz offers invaluable insight into what really matters to emerging artists: originality, persistence, a balance between knowledge and intuition, and that most precious of qualities, self-belief.
-
-
Terrible Book Waste of Money
- By Classic on 04-22-20
By: Jerry Saltz
-
ArtCurious
- Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History
- By: Jennifer Dasal
- Narrated by: Jennifer Dasal
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed - or even murdered.
-
-
Didn't make me art curious.
- By Carol Schmidt on 12-03-20
By: Jennifer Dasal
-
Find Your Artistic Voice
- The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic
- By: Lisa Congdon
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author, artist, and illustrator Lisa Congdon brings her expertise to this guide to the process of artistic self-discovery. Featuring advice from Congdon herself and interviews with a roster of established artists, illustrators, and creatives, this one-of-a-kind book will show listeners how to identify and nurture their own visual identity, navigate the influence of artists they admire, push through fear and insecurity, and appreciate the value of their personal journey.
-
-
Fantastic read
- By M. McNichol on 08-26-19
By: Lisa Congdon
-
How to See
- Looking, Talking, and Thinking About Art
- By: David Salle
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How does art work? How does it move us, inform us, challenge us? Internationally renowned painter David Salle's incisive essay collection illuminates the work of many of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Engaging with a wide range of Salle's friends and contemporaries - from painters to conceptual artists such as Jeff Koons, John Baldessari, Roy Lichtenstein, and Alex Katz, among others - How to See explores not only the multilayered personalities of the artists themselves but also the distinctive character of their oeuvres.
-
-
Not for the novice
- By Denise on 04-14-20
By: David Salle
-
The Artist's Journey: Bold Strokes to Spark Creativity
- By: Nancy Hillis M.D.
- Narrated by: Nancy Hillis
- Length: 3 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From artist, psychiatrist, and founder of The Artist's Journey courses in creativity: the path to the art and life you've dreamed of. Inspiration for your creative journey. Art mirrors our inner state in ways that are meaningful and mysterious. Creativity is central to feeling alive. Are you an artist tired of feeling blocked from expressing onto the canvas the art that lives deep within you? It's later than you think. You don't want to come to your final moments regretting your unlived dreams.
-
-
Life changing for me
- By Amazon Customer on 05-11-19
-
You Are an Artist
- Assignments to Spark Creation
- By: Sarah Urist Green
- Narrated by: Sarah Urist Green
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Curator Sarah Urist Green left her office in the basement of an art museum to travel and visit a diverse range of artists, asking them to share prompts that relate to their own ways of working. The result is You Are an Artist, a journey of creation through which you'll invent imaginary friends, sort books, declare a cause, construct a landscape, find your band, and become someone else (or at least try). Your challenge is to filter these assignments through the lens of your own experience and make art that reflects the world as you see it.
-
-
Be inspired!
- By sprhapyfuntime on 04-17-20
Publisher's Summary
The Secret Lives of Colour tells the unusual stories of the 75 most fascinating shades, dyes and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso's blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history.
In this book Kassia St Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colours and where they come from (whether Van Gogh's chrome yellow sunflowers or punk's fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilisation. Across fashion and politics, art and war, The Secret Lives of Colour tell the vivid story of our culture.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic Reviews
"A mind-expanding tour of the world without leaving your paintbox. Every colour has a story, and here are some of the most alluring, alarming, and thought-provoking. Very hard painting the hallway magnolia after this inspiring primer." (Simon Garfield)
More from the same
Narrator
What listeners say about The Secret Lives of Colour
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- WAP
- 05-01-20
More a reference book
Pick any colour.... You will find its provenance here. Very well researched and delivered. With a good description of each colour. The short stories attached, gave each hue greater understanding.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Charity Muzawazi
- 08-21-20
Loved the book
Fascinating history of colour. I learnt sooo much!!! Highly recommended if you are an artist.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Kimmi
- 07-07-20
Incredibly informative, entertaining and beautifully read.
I loved this book. Fascinating stories about colours but in relation to art and culture. The only bad thing was that it wasn’t long enough. I hope there is another book with more stories.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Michael Hoyle
- 06-10-20
Really insightful
I really enjoyed hearing the history and origins of colours. It got a little repetitive after a while, but I listened to it all over just a few days.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 06-03-20
Could use a better narrator.
struggled to finish, I noticed that a lot of the info in this book was simply googled, word for word in some cases from Wikipedia. The narrator seemed to be trying too hard to speak in 'Queens English'.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 05-19-20
Secret Lives of Colour
I so enjoyed listening to this book! The world is now different after listening to this book. Looking at the objects around me, I am now wondering, why is it that colour? how did that colour get created? what makes up that colour? Colours are no longer just numbers, hex, or Red 0-255, blue 0-255, and Green 0-255, they are wavelengths, chemicals, accidents, religion and power.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Hiro
- 04-28-20
Highly recommended
I read the book first and found it very interesting. So, why an audiobook? The author’s voice and style of narration is very soothing to my ears. It’s very rare that I enjoyed both the book and audiobook. Thank you.