Hue's Hue

September 15, 2020 7:21 AM

For the Paris Review, Katy Kelleher writes essays on very specific colors.

Including:
Periwinkle, the Color of Poison, Modernism, and Dusk
Mustard, the Color of Millennial Candidates, Problematic Lattes, and Aboriginal Paintings
Flowers for Yellow Chins, Bruised Eyes, Forsaken Nymphs, and Impending Death
Living Coral, the Brutal Hue of Climate Change and Brand New iPhones
Chartreuse, the Color of Elixirs, Flappers, and Alternate Realities
Blaze Orange, the Color of Fear, Warnings, and the Artificial
Hooker’s Green: The Color of Apple Trees and Envy
Lilac, the Color of Half Mourning, Doomed Hotels, and Fashionable Feelings
Scheele’s Green, the Color of Fake Foliage and Death
Jonquil, the Light Yellow of Early Flowers, Mad Painters, and Dust Bowl–Era Pottery
Incarnadine, the Bloody Red of Fashionable Cosmetics and Shakespearean Poetics
Marian Blue, the Color of Angels, Virgins, and Other Untouchable Things
Eau de Nil, the Light-Green Color of Egypt-Obsessed Europe

posted by Hypatia (9 comments total)

I happened to read the Eau-de-Nil piece the other week & found it very interesting, but hadn't noticed it was part of a series: many thanks for the links, Hypatia!
posted by misteraitch at 7:42 AM on September 15, 2020

Really enjoyed the first one, looking forward to reading through the rest -- thanks for posting!
posted by Kat Allison at 8:37 AM on September 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

Wow, these are fantastic, thank you so much
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:40 AM on September 15, 2020

I like the periwinkle one, I'll have to come back and read the others.
posted by tavella at 9:16 AM on September 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

This is a bit off-topic, but looking through these reminded me that one of my favorite parts of the HBO production of "My Brilliant Friend" has been the different background colors of each episode's end credits. We watch on a projector screen, and the arrival of each credit scene is like a blast of color therapy, each color surprising, unusual, and I'm sure possessed of its own long history, but most of which I don't have a good name for.
posted by chortly at 9:53 AM on September 15, 2020

Wonderful round-up, thank you for the links. Katy Kelleher is the topic of two previous MeFi posts that may also be of interest: "It’s an ugly thing, the way we treat both women and mollusks" and "All the Whites You Cannot Name" (not people). For the mods: may be worth adding the Katy Kelleher tag to connect this post to those.
posted by wicked_sassy at 11:34 AM on September 15, 2020 [2 favorites]

Maybe she'll do a proper article on Ashes-of-Roses and nymph's thigh and Millennial Pink, a coincidence that seems worth turning over to me. At least the illustrations would be charming-creepy.

Oo, also a series on ugliness in art, not in the sense of "women and mollusks", that looks interesting.
posted by clew at 11:58 AM on September 15, 2020

Wonderful, thank you!
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:18 PM on September 15, 2020

Those are really great, love the way Kelleher manages to tie in so much history with a love of colors and their poetic sensibilities.
posted by blue shadows at 11:31 PM on September 16, 2020