Chloë Ashby

Colors of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes by Chloë Ashby is a fun, informative, and accessible romp through art (specifically painting) history.

When the biggest complaint about a book is a single word in the title, I think that means it worked for you. I have difficulty with things being called "the" story or history since there is rarely any single such thing. Though that phrasing is in the title there is no sense of such finality in the tone. It is open and readily acknowledges that there were other possibilities to include.

While I really enjoyed the other book by Ashby that I read (Look at This If You Love Great Art) I think I got something completely different from this one. For lack of a better way of putting it, the other gave me new ways to approach or "get into" a work of art. This one uses one important element, color, and shows me how it speaks to everything from the artist's preferences, the patron's demands, what materials are available, and the moods that they can convey.

For those who might be nervous, this is very accessible. Don't worry about matching the palette she offers to the image you're looking at. Between time changing the colors on the works themselves, different reproductions will show different as well as how you're viewing it (monitor resolution, color settings, the actual type of device, etc). Ashby mentions this in her introduction, but the palette still provides a helpful tool as well as a device for allowing a coherent narrative throughout.

While I think those with a solid background in art will appreciate this, it seems to be geared more toward the person who loves art but wants some additional ways to view it besides "I like/dislike it." Even when how some of the paintings have been interpreted are mentioned, it isn't in detail. If the reader is interested, it isn't hard to find more details.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (altro)

Eve has lost her mother when she left the 5-year-old and her father and never made contact again. Even though she somehow managed to cope with this experience, losing her best friend Grace totally throws her off the track. At 26, she is waiting in a bar despite having studied art at Oxford. Yet, she does not keep that job for long, just like any other job or the flat she shares. Nothing seems to linger in her life except for the painting she visits over and over again in a London museum and Max, a teenage friend. But even for Max it becomes increasingly harder to see how Eve throws away her life and does not accept any help.

Chloë Ashby’s debut novel brilliantly captures the protagonist’s being lost in the world after the death of a beloved friend that she has never gotten over. “Wet Paint” shows a young woman in survival mode who is far from unleashing her potential as she is straying in her life without aim or goal, from time to time colliding with reality but more often lost in thought and locked away in herself.

Eve is incapable of good relationships as she is far from being at ease with herself. Connecting with other people, being honest and really caring for them is impossible for her in state she is in. The only other being she shows real affection for is the young girl she babysits, but here, too, she is too lost in her thoughts and puts herself and the girl in danger.

The only constant in her life is a painting she observes closely and which calms her. Just the thought of the museum closing for a holiday makes her get nervous and when the museum loans her beloved pieces of art to another one, she almost freaks out, losing the last straw in her life.

It is not easy to watch how a young woman, lovable despite the way she treats others, is going down the abyss, yet, you can only help those that want to be helped. That’s what some characters also experience, they really care for her but can’t do anything to as long as she refuses to acknowledge her situation and to take necessary measures to improve her situation.

Not an easy read but in my opinion an authentic representation of the protagonist’s state of emergency.… (altro)