Art

Interaction of Color

Interaction of Color

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  • Create Date：2021-03-31 14:17:18
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Josef Albers
  • ISBN：0300179359
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Summary

Josef Albers’s Interaction of Color is a masterwork in art education。 Conceived as a handbook and teaching aid for artists， instructors， and students， this influential book presents Albers’s singular explanation of complex color theory principles。

Originally published by Yale University Press in 1963 as a limited silkscreen edition with 150 color plates， Interaction of Color first appeared in paperback in 1971， featuring ten color studies chosen by Albers， and has remained in print ever since。 With over a quarter of a million copies sold in its various editions since 1963， Interaction of Color  remains an essential resource on color， as pioneering today as when Albers first created it。

Fifty years after Interaction’s initial publication， this new edition presents a significantly expanded selection of close to sixty color studies alongside Albers’s original text， demonstrating such principles as color relativity， intensity， and temperature; vibrating and vanishing boundaries; and the illusion of transparency and reversed grounds。 A celebration of the longevity and unique authority of Albers’s contribution， this landmark edition will find new audiences in studios and classrooms around the world。

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Reviews

Joann ，

Going through the projects will improve your understanding of color。

Jimina Sabadú ，

Lo esperaba más divulgativo （ error mio）， y sin embargo es utilísimo para entender algo tan importante como el color。

Tina ，

The brilliant intersection of color， light， physics， music， and math。 For fans of the Bauhaus， Kandinsky and Klee this is a must read。 Warning - it is not an easy read and it’s best studied with an instructor。 I had the good fortune of taking a class called Interaction of Color online with the 92Y， taught by Fritz Horstman， also a teacher at Black Mountain College。

Antonis Maronikolakis ，

A pretty neat book， although not for me。 I was expecting it to be more heavy on theory， but this is very much a practical guide on teaching about colors。 I am sure if you are a student in a workshop， this would be quite useful， but for me it didn't do much。 Still， there were some interesting slides， and it is quite short， so it was not a waste of time。 A pretty neat book， although not for me。 I was expecting it to be more heavy on theory， but this is very much a practical guide on teaching about colors。 I am sure if you are a student in a workshop， this would be quite useful， but for me it didn't do much。 Still， there were some interesting slides， and it is quite short， so it was not a waste of time。 。。。more

Yü ，

I have very mixed feelings about this classic。 What I like about it: This book focuses on interactions of color， based on the idea/fact that a color is rarely seen alone but always in relation to other colors—"Color is the most relative medium of art。" This perspective is in a way in contrast to the prevailing color theory which presents color first and forecast as a combination of their three attributes （hue， value， saturation）， therefore a constant， physical existence。 The way that this book t I have very mixed feelings about this classic。 What I like about it: This book focuses on interactions of color， based on the idea/fact that a color is rarely seen alone but always in relation to other colors—"Color is the most relative medium of art。" This perspective is in a way in contrast to the prevailing color theory which presents color first and forecast as a combination of their three attributes （hue， value， saturation）， therefore a constant， physical existence。 The way that this book teaches us to see—or rather， to perceive—colors is invaluable。 The book provides numerous strikingly self-explanatory examples on various visual effects and illusions to demonstrate the relativity of colors （assuring its readers that it's not our fault if we are so often misled and deceived by colors）。 Although the physical version only contains a selective set of such examples， many more can be found online。 What I don't like about it: This book is not suitable for self-study， especially for people who don't have a basic （but comprehensive） understanding of color theory。 Most exercises and practices in the book are given in the form of group assignments and discussions and indeed only work well in that way。 Moreover， the writing of the book can be sometimes opaque， too concise and coded， as if it is written as instructions for the teachers， not the students。 This book， written almost 60 years ago， does not touch on how colors are viewed， used and manipulated in this digital age。 An absence that will only grow more pronounced as "colored papers"， the principal material used in the book for practice， become more and more scarce。 The format of the book is also questionable。 Exemplary images are placed together as a separate section from the texts。 Therefore one needs to constantly go back and forth between texts and their corresponding examples。 （The examples are meant to be shown as individual plates during lectures。） Moreover， throughout the book numbers are presented in numerals instead of words， which seems to be totally unreasonable， even annoying。 。。。more

Josh Middleton ，

Academic colour theory。 Not very practical。 Operates like an optical illusion book。 Second half of book is more stimulating， with visual imagery examples of colour。 First half is wordy and esoteric （mentioning other colour theorists）。 Not as demonstrative and practical as I wanted， but the book jacket design is pretty。

Villa Lena ，

Recommended by Katy Kirbach

Patti ，

Nice and useful

Özge Günaydın ，

Rengin öğrenimi ya da öğretimi ya da şartlanması ya da algısı 。。。 neyi merak ediyorsanız bu kitap da var

Flavie ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Una serie di esercizi pratici che fanno venir voglia di tagliare strisce di carta colorata per poter giocare con le combinazioni e le infinite varianti sul tema。 E poi non avrei mai pensato di trovare un intero capitolo sulla legge di Weber-Fechner。

Ashani ，

A thorough study about color。

Bethany Parker ，

I learned a lot。 This made me feel like I was back in undergrad， and I miss the way it feels to learn about things outside of my regular scope of thought。 There were many times throughout this novel that I had to look away or stop reading because I was so dumbfounded by the new information I was learning。 Our brains are really something else。

Jeremy ，

Frustrating at times in an optical illusion sense but replete with delightful figures to look at。 Helpful to understand color space and theory and well worth it's ubiquitous recommendation。 Frustrating at times in an optical illusion sense but replete with delightful figures to look at。 Helpful to understand color space and theory and well worth it's ubiquitous recommendation。 。。。more

Sharon Barrow Wilfong ，

Fascinating collection of essays discussing the theories of color， especially color relativity。

Patrick Stuart ，

（I only gave this 4 out of 5 because I'm a little too dumb for it。）Two big problems inside the mind， neither of which I really understand。'Binding' which I think is working out what objects are which， and 'Combination' which is about creating the matrix-like world-view which our little homunculus sits inside while riding the body around。All of this started because I like Louise Sugdens painting style and because I like Dazzle Patterns on ships， and so I began a small investigation into colour， i （I only gave this 4 out of 5 because I'm a little too dumb for it。）Two big problems inside the mind， neither of which I really understand。'Binding' which I think is working out what objects are which， and 'Combination' which is about creating the matrix-like world-view which our little homunculus sits inside while riding the body around。All of this started because I like Louise Sugdens painting style and because I like Dazzle Patterns on ships， and so I began a small investigation into colour， in particular， into colour and mass/shape。。。After all， it’s only trying to understand how colour works， and how that combines with our sensation and understanding of mass。。 how hard can it be？Answer - INFINITELY HARD， for the very question opens the doorway to a crystalline dungeon of PRISMATIC MYSTERIES。The search has taken me through Neurobiology （We Know It When We See It by Richard Masland）， Ship Camouflage in WWI （Dazzle - disguise and disruption in war and art by James Taylor）， and a deep cut into colour as used by artists （Interaction of Colour by Josef Albers）。We can also possibly add 'Through the Language Glass' by Guy Deushter， about a mild Sapier-Whorff effect in language and colour。IS COLOUR THE MOST RELATIVE SENSE？or just the most obviously relative？So many scientists， art teachers， philosophers， messing around with coloured thread， coloured sheets of paper， swatches of colour， showing them to people of different nations， in classrooms， in laboratories， to rabbits while a hole has been drilled in their skulls to let the electrodes in， sailing around looking for rare islanders so you can show them the colours and write down what they say。 More flags， shining lights， patterns of shade and texture。Albers would remind us that our understanding of all these colours is massively shaped by context， types of light， （electric， dawn， dusk， passing clouds， albedo）， by the arrangement of colours around and within each other， one colour on another， next to another， torn edges， straight edges， curly shapes， blocky shapes， texture on flat and so on and so on， so that he might regard these neurologists and cultural analysts running around as quite mad and pointless。ALBERS - The most curious and unique of the minds I have witnessed through text。 A man with the very tight， intense， highly disciplined brain of a laboratory scientist， a careful， systematic and procedural method to his teaching （learning about colour is *not about self-expression！*）。 And yet， with the least scientific aim and probably the greatest scepticism towards the systemising， totalising goal of science。Albers is learning and teaching his students， through the medium of relentless attention and careful systematic analysis， about something he believes is very， very， highly relative。 Fluid within perception and within the mind， to the extent that considering colour outside of its context， as an isolated quality， I think to him that would be utterly insane， since that is something it can never be。Is it really the most relative of sensations？ I think probably it is not， but that it is the most *observably relative* because it comes to us always alongside shape， objects and *DIVIDING LINES*， and I think the secret to the perceived relativity of colour is not that it is more relative than touch， smell or sound， but that it is more relative than objects and lines。The mind is Binding and Combining the shapes of objects and dividing lines between things （"edge detection"） all the time， and however it is doing this （we still don't really know）， it seems to me that shapes， objects and lines are a lot less relative and debateable （both within the mind and beyond it） than the colours which always are sensed with and alongside them。We might not all be seeing the same colours， and we can be certain， that in different lights and different times of day， things which register as always having the same colour in our minds， in fact have quite different colours， and that our brain is clearly fudging the issue， but *in comparison* to colour， we can be much more certain that the lines， shapes and objects we perceive， are both coherent to themselves and coherent when discussed and compared between individuals。"That big rock， is it more yellow or green would you say？"and never"That big yellow-green thing， rock or sponge， would you say？"And it is this， the evidently-relative-relativity， if you will excuse an awful phrase， which makes colour more obviously relative than sound or touch， because it lives along side and is always contrasted with， shape and line， which is very much less relative （probably more dominant， earlier maybe， in the binding & combining process）。IS THE BLUE I SEE THE SAME AS YOURSIt’s likely。 If it’s not exactly the same it’s probably pretty similar， unless you are at the far end of the curve， and most crucially， as Albers would tell you， IT DOESN'T MATTER！ For colour is REALIVE and exists only relative to its context and therefore all that truly matters is if what you see as blue has the same relative relation to what you see as red green etc as everyone else which it probably does （though maybe not entirely）。COLOUR AND TIME， VISION AND TIMEWhile I know nothing about any of this I know even less about this part so beware， but it seems to me that vision and in particular the binding and combining of colour and form， and many colours， gives us access to a kind of island of no-time within our own minds。As Albers would tell us， and here I'll bring in Ian McGilchrist of "The Master and His Emissary"， sound is sequential， it can only happen in a row of information （though different sounds can be combined at the same time）， touch is a bit less sequential， you can tough something with different bits of yourself， or be touched at once。 Movement has a 'moment of movement' but is quite largely sequential， it happens in a row but vision， and the sensing of colour and shape， am I wrong in thinking that it has the least sequential elements？McGilchrist would say that one part of the mind senses and 'sees' everything in one big burst and the other scans and sequentialises， so maybe sight， vision， has the most complex experience of time within the mind。When I imagine the binding/combining process， I imagine something with a 'loose moment'， a kind of drifting， or indistinct sense of the 'now'。 The mind sees， absorbs， identifies， arranges and understands， all happening together。 The big blurt of information from the all-at-once scan， the rapid sequential object scanning， the binding and combining shape colour， shade， light， fluid integration and re-integration with the imagined and re-constructed mind-state， both what 'just happened' （the part that makes us think the rabbit is still inside the hat） and the 'about to happen' （that lets tennis stars work out where the ball is *going to be*， all of this， binding and combining， looping and feeding back， continually， whenever our eyes are open。 And so， within the mechanisms of vision are many mutual but simultaneous *perceptions of time*。 sequential， global， memory looking back and imagination/modelling looking forward， all happening "at once"。 The experience of vision is like a kind of time machine， a timeless， or looped moment within ourselves， which we can dip into and experience， slightly， a more or less time-powered moment， variations on what 'now' is。WHY DO I GET A GIDDY FEELING WHEN PRESSING AGAINST THE EDGES OF THE IDEA？Perhaps this presentiment of the complex nature of consciousness， vision， time， self awareness， is why when I reach certain points of Albers book， Maslands book and McGilchrists， I get a kind of giddy feeling。 That feeling when you are just on the borders of a great idea， the moment before something complex， difficult and indistinct synthesises inside your mind into a coherent whole。This might just be the borders of my own stupidity。Or am I pressing against the edge of REALITY ITSELF？？？？AM I SMART ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND THIS STUFF？Probably not really no。 Masland is pop-sci and at the deeper end I struggle。Albers， god damn fucking Germanic Albers。 First its a book of experiments really， that you are meant to perform， and I didn't。 Didn't have the right stuff， time or will。 And second he writes in this bloody art-school Germanic hyper-clear style， which because it is hyper clear and has only the correct info in itis fucking hard to get through。 There is no pulse of info/blather for you brain to take a moment to recombine， instead its infoinfoinfoinfo。Its one of the most interesting books on colour that I have ever read， but again， I found it a struggle， especially towards the end。 There were effects and ideas that I found it hard to perceive， model and consider， and so I ended up somewhat， sweeping over the words in a fearful rush。 Back in secondary school maths again！ fuck！COLOUR AND MASS， SHADE， SHINE， BRIGHTNESS AGGGHHHHHHH！God fucking damn it brain， why you have to be so complex。 All I wanted to understand was colour and mass。Well， good news。 Brain works out what shape and mass things are about 20 different ways at once。 Edge detection and memory probably the most simple， though they exist at different ends of the binding/combining process （probably， we don't really know， and as I theorised above， 'different ends' likely doesn't make much sense in a temporarily fluid process with massive feedback loops）。Other ways - shade， light， texture， gleam， RELATIVE COLOUR。 whoop de fucking do， all these things are changing massively， continually， always， depending on light， weather， perceptions， environment， background， movement between objects ， movement WITHIN an object （which way will the Zebra jump - dunno as bunching muscles all fucked up by those dang stripes）， and everything else。False weathering patterns on 40k minis， showing you illusory mass one way， comic book style highlights on minis showing you mass another way， fake metal gleams in the non-metallic metal process showing you shape of imaginary metal， Blanchitsu style with decay and deep shadows， and the pale and nacreous skin which is good at showing those gothic shadows， showing you mass another way。All somehow dealing with mass， or the delusion of mass， enhancing and re-creating the sense of 'shape' using false or simulated miniaturisations of aspects of the real（er） large scale world。AND ALL DIFFERENT！！！Especially when considered as different painting techniques， as in you literally need to do and think about a lot of stuff differently to employ each one。 Camouflage probably provides the key to entry to this subject but I have only read one book on it - stuff on 'Dazzle' （which seems like it didn't actually work， looked fucking cool though - raised morale， that counts！But there are even different techniques and ideas behind kinds of camouflage。 Camo for invisibilityfor disruption of shape， of movement， counter-shading seems to have been invented， or re-invented by camo people （and oddly enough that is the exact opposite of a mini technique called zenithal highlighting）。Looking into the way camo destroys the understanding of mass and shape as a method for understanding how the eye and mind create and perceive mass and shape seems like a good idea。More on this later perhaps。SIMULATION THEORY IS FUCKING DISGUSTINGGotta do a brief postscript in Patricks Schizophrenia Hour。As a result of looking into this I now hate Simulation Theory even more than I did before， whic was a lot。It’s the ultimate narcissistic ， ressentiment-based conspiracy theory， except instead of being focused on governments and social systems its focused on ALL OF REALITYIt’s also clearly theology， and bad theology at that。 Investigation of the detail and subtlety of the human sensing， binding and combining process and its integration into consciousness， means that believing in simulation theory means that whatever is running the simulation both carefully and exactingly created the illusion of a hyper-complex system which evolved over bazillions of years to sense and inhabit a very particular complex eco-system AND left clues behind for the enlightened to see that thhis was all made up。 Just like the God of Abraham leaving dinosaur bones behind as a test of faith。It is a vile doctrine of superiority， the product of alienation， narcissism and a high IQ。 。。。more

Natalie Todaro ，

Really really amazing for any designer / artist。 There are about 20 pages where Albers discusses class exercises that can be hard to understand， since we are reading a book and not participating in a class， but the rest is fantastic。 Albers makes profound points about color and color theory in general that have opened my eyes。

Tomás Narvaja ，

Phenomenal book on the effects colors produced when carefully related to each other。 Cannot recommend it enough to anybody who works with color。

Jordan ，

I wanted to love this book a lot more than I ended up loving it。 I love colour and the exploration of it， and was hoping to understand colours more at a psychological level。 This book， rather than explaining meanings， explains how to view colours around us and understand the interactions between them。 While I think the information in here is incredible and sometimes eye-opening to the way I view colour， I cannot help but sometimes get lulled into a daze by the antiquated speech and the scholarly I wanted to love this book a lot more than I ended up loving it。 I love colour and the exploration of it， and was hoping to understand colours more at a psychological level。 This book， rather than explaining meanings， explains how to view colours around us and understand the interactions between them。 While I think the information in here is incredible and sometimes eye-opening to the way I view colour， I cannot help but sometimes get lulled into a daze by the antiquated speech and the scholarly tone。 I understand this was written for teachers to help their students learn better， but as a self-guided learner I found this book often dull and hard to focus on， much like reading a textbook。 。。。more

Ahmad ，

More a reference book with exercises that are done in design classes （my major had them as well）。 The theory was a bit too abstract and the structure of the book is weird， still a very important book for color interaction。

Aditya Chaudhary ，

Interaction of Color is a good way to spend a lazy summer afternoon。 Especially if you need respite from reading heavy literature or political non fiction。 And for those who are reading it purely because of the content， you will enjoy it because it is a simple， well presented book without trying to be a definitive one on the subject。

David Nash ，

amazing。 philosophical / mathematic / psychological / etc etc for a total art novce like me i was totally blown away

Cindy ，

Have known of this work for ages and now have finally read it。 50th anniversary edition is gorgeous。 It is more a book to be worked through rather than read， so if you want a very "readable" introduction to color theory， you will be disappointed。 If you do the exercises， though （or have the good fortune to learn from a teacher using Albers' method， as I did） -- wow。 No surprise that it remains a classic。 Have known of this work for ages and now have finally read it。 50th anniversary edition is gorgeous。 It is more a book to be worked through rather than read， so if you want a very "readable" introduction to color theory， you will be disappointed。 If you do the exercises， though （or have the good fortune to learn from a teacher using Albers' method， as I did） -- wow。 No surprise that it remains a classic。 。。。more

Rafael Montilla ，

Excellent

Susan ，

Great book for artists。 Not bad for we mere mortal crafty types， either。

Zioluc ，

non è un saggio ma una poco interessante raccolta di esercizi da far fare in classe。

Vanya Prodanova ，

Макар да не е лесно да разбереш упражненията от книгата， тъй като е трудно да се пресъздадат в думи цветовете и тяхната обвързаност и взаимовръзка， книгата ти дава нов поглед към тяхното възприемане и използване， особено по отношение на рисуването。 Струваше си всяко предпочитане на изречение， за да разбера всъщност какъв резултат се очаква от цветното упражнение и как реално се достига до него。 Книжката е малка и всяка глава е упражнение， което да пробваш， с допълнителни материали， които да ти п Макар да не е лесно да разбереш упражненията от книгата， тъй като е трудно да се пресъздадат в думи цветовете и тяхната обвързаност и взаимовръзка， книгата ти дава нов поглед към тяхното възприемане и използване， особено по отношение на рисуването。 Струваше си всяко предпочитане на изречение， за да разбера всъщност какъв резултат се очаква от цветното упражнение и как реално се достига до него。 Книжката е малка и всяка глава е упражнение， което да пробваш， с допълнителни материали， които да ти покажат до някаква степен визуално начина， по който си общуват и влияят цветовете。 Определено чувствам， че обогатих знанията си за цветовете по нов и различен начин。 Вече доста ще се замислям преди да нарека една комбинация неприятна или преди да поставя даден цвят до друг。 :） Сега ми се иска да прочета още книги посветени на цветовете， но не само от гледна точка на художниците， но и на психологията и физиката。 Наистина е изумително колко енергични и активни могат да бъдат цветовете ако получиш възможност да почнеш да ги възприемаш като живи。 。。。more

Sarah ，

On the surface this book is a refreshing and comprehensive treatise on color theory， one that emphasizes the merits of using discovery and practice before theory and research。 But on a deeper level， this book is much more than that–it's a concise and extremely effective shortcut to learning creative thinking， what Albers calls "thinking in situations。" I say this both as a designer who was educated using Albers' methods， and as a teacher who's used his methods in the lab and workshop environment On the surface this book is a refreshing and comprehensive treatise on color theory， one that emphasizes the merits of using discovery and practice before theory and research。 But on a deeper level， this book is much more than that–it's a concise and extremely effective shortcut to learning creative thinking， what Albers calls "thinking in situations。" I say this both as a designer who was educated using Albers' methods， and as a teacher who's used his methods in the lab and workshop environments he advocated for。Overall， this book reveals just how bright of a mind Josef Albers was， not only as a designer and an artist， but as a gestalt thinker。 I especially liked his incisive inclusion of the psychological and physical aspects of color theory as they related to human perception。 It's that big picture perspective that's endeared me to Albers–not that I wasn't already a fan。 。。。more

Sara ，

A great read for creatives interested in improving and challenging their sense of colour。 It helped explain colour phenomena that I've noticed in real life but struggled to put words to。 While much of the book is describing different colour experiments that Albers did with his students， it's still a highly informative read。 That said， it might be boring for somebody that is only casually interested in art and design。The downside to the particular edition that I read （the 1975 pocket edition） is A great read for creatives interested in improving and challenging their sense of colour。 It helped explain colour phenomena that I've noticed in real life but struggled to put words to。 While much of the book is describing different colour experiments that Albers did with his students， it's still a highly informative read。 That said， it might be boring for somebody that is only casually interested in art and design。The downside to the particular edition that I read （the 1975 pocket edition） is that they reduced the number of colour plates down to ten。 The original text has 150。 It definitely makes me want to view the full text just so that I can see all the examples。A formatting detail worth noting: I appreciated the pages' wide margins and unusual paragraph breaks—at a quick glance， it almost looks like a book of poetry。 I found that it helped make the content easier to digest and ponder。 I read the 1975 edition， so I'm not sure if this format was used in earlier/later versions。Anyway， I'll absolutely be applying some of these concepts to my work and look forward to trying out some of the experiments。 。。。more

Sandy ，

I think the way to read this book is slowly and with reflection: read some， think some。 :） I don't really feel that it taught me in a mind-blowing way as this is pretty much how I think about color anyway。But any time someone wants to show you a different way to see， you should look。The color wheel is fun for theory， in my very humble opinion， but this is practical and I believe you learn rather than memorize。 I think the way to read this book is slowly and with reflection: read some， think some。 :） I don't really feel that it taught me in a mind-blowing way as this is pretty much how I think about color anyway。But any time someone wants to show you a different way to see， you should look。The color wheel is fun for theory， in my very humble opinion， but this is practical and I believe you learn rather than memorize。 。。。more

Nate D ，

Colors are way too complicated for me to be allowed to use it without much more study， clearly。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Interaction of Color

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Interaction of Color&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Interaction of Color&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0