“The first thing to realize about the study of color in our time is its uncanny ability to evade all attempts to systematically codify it,” writes Charles A. Riley in this series of interconnected essays on the uses and meanings of color.
“In his wonderful book, Charles Riley makes color more graspable, more at hand than ever before. At the same time he enhances, indeed, seems to fuel our appreciation of the excitement of color.”
Frank Stella, Artist
The subtitle clearly delineates the subject matter of this important book on the subjectivity of color sense and theories thereof, from the late 19th century to the present . . . [Riley] stresses the relatively independent development of color ideas among the theorists chosen, speaking of interrelations usually only where they have some historical or conceptual validity; and he does so in a clear, intelligible style.
Riley's richly rewarding scholarly study explores the multiple meanings of color.
In six intricate essays, the author discusses uses of color by the foremost contemporary artists, composers, philosophers, authors, architects, and psychologists . . . Riley's impressively wide-ranging knowledge demonstrate[s] the unique and varied perceptions in the field.
A captivating book. Rich in information and graceful in its prose, I know of no other book on the subject with this kind of encyclopedic breadth. The vast amount of detail is handled with an ease that belies the years of research that must have gone into this project.
A tour de force . . . Color Codes is in a class by itself.
In his wonderful book, Charles Riley makes color more graspable, more at hand than ever before. At the same time he enhances, indeed, seems to fuel our appreciation of the excitement of color.
CHARLES A. RILEY II is a frequent lecturer on the arts. He is author of several books, including Aristocracy and the Modern Imagination (2001) and Saints of Modern Art (1998), and of over a hundred gallery and museum catalogue essays for exhibitions on three continents. He has also written dozens of cover features for magazines including Art & Auction, Art & Antiques, and World Art. Founding editor-in-chief of WE, a national magazine for people with disabilities, he is Associate Professor of English at Baruch College, CUNY.
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