Victoria Finlay

En este vívido y cautivador viaje a través de los colores de la paleta de un artista, Victoria Finlay nos lleva a una apasionante aventura alrededor del mundo y a través de los tiempos, iluminando cómo los colores que elegimos valorar han determinado la historia de la propia cultura.&;¿Como viajo el preciado color azul desde las remotas minas de lapislazuli de Afganistan hasta el pincel de Miguel Angel? ¿Cual es la relacion entre la pintura marron y las antiguas momias egipcias? ¿Por que Robin Hood vestia de verde Lincoln? En Color, Finlay explora los materiales fisicos que colorean nuestro mundo, como los minerales preciosos y la sangre de los insectos, asi como los significados sociales y politicos que el color ha tenido a lo largo del tiempo.&;Los emperadores romanos solian llevar togas teñidas de un color purpura que se fabricaba con un oloroso marisco libanes, lo que probablemente significaba que su olor les precedia. En el siglo XVIII, el tinte negro se llamaba logwood y crecia a lo largo del Meno español. Algunas de las primeras plantaciones de indigo fueron iniciadas en America, sorprendentemente, por una chica de diecisiete años llamada Eliza. Y el popular cuadro de Van Gogh Rosas blancas de la Galeria Nacional de Washington tuvo que ser rebautizado despues de que un investigador descubriera que las flores estaban hechas originalmente con una pintura rosa que se habia desvanecido hacia casi un siglo. El color esta repleto de personas, acontecimientos y anecdotas extraordinarias, pintadas de forma aun mas deslumbrante por el atractivo estilo de Finlay.&;Embarquese en una emocionante aventura con esta intrepida periodista mientras viaja en burro por las antiguas rutas comerciales de la seda; con los fenicios que navegaban por el Mediterraneo en busca de una concha especial de color purpura que cosechaba riqueza, sustento y prestigio; con los modernos agricultores chilenos que crian y desangran insectos por su viscosa sangre roja. Los colores que elaboran nuestro mundo nunca han sido tan brillantes.

A magnificent work of original research that unravels history through textiles and clothhow we make it, use it, and what it means to us.How is a handmade fabric helping save an ancient forest?Why is a famous fabric pattern from India best known by the name of a Scottish town?How is a Chinese dragon robe a diagram of the whole universe?What is the difference between how the Greek Fates and the Viking Norns used threads to tell our destiny? In Fabric, bestselling author Victoria Finlay spins us round the globe, weaving stories of our relationship with cloth and asking how and why people through the ages have made it, worn it, invented it, and made symbols out of it. And sometimes why they have fought for it.She beats the inner bark of trees into cloth in Papua New Guinea, fails to handspin cotton in Guatemala, visits tweed weavers at their homes in Harris, and has lessons in patchwork-making in Gees Bend, Alabama - where in the 1930s, deprived of almost everything they owned, a community of women turned quilting into an art form.She began her research just after the deaths of both her parents and entwined in the threads she found her personal story too. Fabric is not just a material history of our world, but Finlays own journey through grief and recovery.

COLOR examines the social significance of the known colors, as expressed though the sciences, art history, theology, and the painters themselves.

En este vívido y cautivador viaje a través de los colores de la paleta de un artista, Victoria Finlay nos lleva a una apasionante aventura alrededor del mundo y a través de los tiempos, iluminando cómo los colores que elegimos valorar han determinado la historia de la propia cultura.¿Como viajo el preciado color azul desde las remotas minas de lapislazuli de Afganistan hasta el pincel de Miguel Angel? ¿Cual es la relacion entre la pintura marron y las antiguas momias egipcias? ¿Por que Robin Hood vestia de verde Lincoln? En Color, Finlay explora los materiales fisicos que colorean nuestro mundo, como los minerales preciosos y la sangre de los insectos, asi como los significados sociales y politicos que el color ha tenido a lo largo del tiempo.Los emperadores romanos solian llevar togas teñidas de un color purpura que se fabricaba con un oloroso marisco libanes, lo que probablemente significaba que su olor les precedia. En el siglo XVIII, el tinte negro se llamaba logwood y crecia a lo largo del Meno español. Algunas de las primeras plantaciones de indigo fueron iniciadas en America, sorprendentemente, por una chica de diecisiete años llamada Eliza. Y el popular cuadro de Van Gogh Rosas blancas de la Galeria Nacional de Washington tuvo que ser rebautizado despues de que un investigador descubriera que las flores estaban hechas originalmente con una pintura rosa que se habia desvanecido hacia casi un siglo. El color esta repleto de personas, acontecimientos y anecdotas extraordinarias, pintadas de forma aun mas deslumbrante por el atractivo estilo de Finlay.Embarquese en una emocionante aventura con esta intrepida periodista mientras viaja en burro por las antiguas rutas comerciales de la seda; con los fenicios que navegaban por el Mediterraneo en busca de una concha especial de color purpura que cosechaba riqueza, sustento y prestigio; con los modernos agricultores chilenos que crian y desangran insectos por su viscosa sangre roja. Los colores que elaboran nuestro mundo nunca han sido tan brillantes.

Pure pleasureIndependentA rich readEvening StandardA delightSunday TelegraphTHE REMARKABLE STORY OF VICTORIA FINLAYS QUEST TO UNCOVER THE MANY SECRETS HIDDEN INSIDE THE PAINTBOX.On her travels she visited remote Central American villages where women still wear skirts dyed with the purple tears of sea snails; learned how George Washington obsessed about his green dining room while he should have been busy with matters of state; and investigated the mystery of Indian Yellow paint, said to have been made from the urine of Indian cows force-fed with mango leaves.From mascara to nomadic carpets and pillar boxes, the story of colour is the story of the efforts of artists and artisans to reproduce the rainbow - and the impact their work has had on the world.

Throughout history, precious stones have inspired passions and poetry, quests and curses, sacred writings and unsacred actions. In this scintillating book, journalist Victoria Finlay embarks on her own globe-circling search for the real stories behind some of the gems we prize most. Blending adventure travel, geology, exciting new research, and her own irresistible charm, Finlay has fashioned a treasure hunt for some of the most valuable, glamorous, and mysterious substances on earth.With the same intense curiosity and narrative flair she displayed in her widely-praised book Color, Finlay journeys from the underground opal churches of outback Australia to the once pearl-rich rivers of Scotland; from the peridot mines on an Apache reservation in Arizona to the remote ruby mines in the mountains of northern Burma. She risks confronting scorpions to crawl through Cleopatras long-deserted emerald mines, tries her hand at gem cutting in the dusty Sri Lankan city where Marco Polo bartered for sapphires, and investigates a rumor that fifty years ago most of the worlds amber was mined by prisoners in a Soviet gulag.Jewels is a unique and often exhilarating voyage through history, across cultures, deep into the earths mantle, and up to the glittering heights of fame, power, and wealth. From the fabled curse of the Hope Diamond, to the disturbing truths about how pearls are cultured, to the peasants who were once executed for carrying amber to the centuries-old quest by magicians and scientists to make a perfect diamond, Jewels tells dazzling stories with a wonderment and brilliance truly worthy of its subjects.

Subtle, compendious and rich' - James McConnachie, The Sunday Times'Dazzling ... Finlay's adventures, vividly recounted, make enthralling reading ... This book is equally an inspiration and an education' - Bel Mooney, Daily Mail'A gorgeous adventure through the history of cloth' - StylistThe Sunday Times best paperbacks of 2022Bestselling author Victoria Finlay spins us round the globe in a vibrant exploration of cloth through the ages.She beats the inner bark of trees into cloth in Papua New Guinea, fails to handspin cotton in Guatemala, visits tweed weavers at their homes in Harris, and has lessons in patchwork-making in Gee's Bend, Alabama. And through it all she uncovers the hidden histories of fabric: how and why people have made it, worn it, invented it and made symbols of itInterlaced with Victoria's own story of grief and recovery, Fabric is a lush patchwork of travel, history, memoir and culture - an unforgettable look into how we have made fabric, and how it has made us.