Pink: The History of a Color

Despite its prevalence in nature and incontestable evidence of its use by artists in the fourth century BCE, the color pink existed without a name until the late Middle Ages. As he did with the other volumes in his “History of a Color” series (White, Yellow, Blue, Green, Red, and Black), Pastoureau offers a scientific, cultural, and artistic study, here exploring Western histories of paint compounds, plants, fashion trends, individual artists, and pop culture icons. Full-page, high-quality image reproductions are abundant, with captions offering rich details on ancient Macedonian paintings, early Roman frescoes and mosaics, medieval religious works, rococo fabrics, and ceramics, along with commentary on the much-praised flesh tones in the art of Titian and Rubens and the cultural impact of The Pink Panther and the Barbie doll. Once equated with status and luxury, pink’s associations and popularity have changed over time. Pastoureau notes pink’s ambivalent status today, highlighting both its negative and positive (often playful) contemporary associations. Color-curious readers might find Kassia St. Clair’s The Secret Lives of Color, with short entries on 75 shades, colors, and dyes, more to their liking, but Pastoureau’s thoroughly researched, wide-ranging book deserves a spot in all art libraries.