Cochineal Red: The Art History of a Color

by Elena Phipps

The Art History of the color red.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Vlad Golovach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely done little book on the history of insect-derived red pigments. Note that you can freely obtain the PDF from the MET publication archive - http://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpubli...

[Charles Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bulletin or catalogue from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that traces the history and commodity chain of cochineal, the red insect dye. Available as free PDF from the Met (as are many of its out of print books). Beautiful images from around the world (Mesoamerica, the Andes, China, Japan, India, Holland, etc.) and a well-written narrative with great sources by Elena Phipps, textiles curator for the Met.

Who knew that, before the more-widespread availability of the bug from Mexico (that thrives on nopal cactus), the color was "Cardinal purple," not "Cardinal red"? Pope John Paul II (17th century) changed the requirements for ecclesiastical wardrobes, as the purple shellfish in use at that time became scarce and the (better) insect dye was introduced to imperial Europe from Mexico via Spain. Another great story of how the New World imprinted the old!

Cochineal is even identified in some of the blacks, dark reds, and reds (in the form of paints or tints) in the works of Rembrandt and Van Gogh!

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great introduction to the history of cochineal, and I appreciate how it differentiates btw the various insects all sometimes (confusingly) referred to as cochineal. Has some great maps and diagrams too!

[Isolde · Rating 3 out of 5]

boringgggggg

[yiming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the history of cochineal throughout the ages. I was appalled at the historical revisionism, the invisibilization and normalization of the violence and exploitation that were a part of Spain's colonization of Mexico and other parts of the Americas. In one section, the author is describing a textile and writes: "If it was the American type [of cochineal], then the textile could not have been made before the 1520s, when Spain encountered Mexico and began to import the native insect dye." I am amazed that the author has the audacity to describe the violence of one country invading another and subjugating the people to violence, genocide, theft of their cultural knowledge and resources as an "encounter". It's irresponsible and incredibly ahistorical to act as though colonization is like a fun cocktail party. Throughout the book, Phipps talks about "intercultural exchange"...it's hard for me to take this seriously when a lot of what she's describing is the exact opposite. Exchange implies that there's mutuality and each side gives and receives something. In colonization, the colonizer only takes and colonized peoples are stolen from--there's no exchange happening. Overall, I enjoyed the book as it taught me more about cochineal and how it came to be known as a sought out dye and colorant used throughout the world.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elena Phipps did an excellent job in outlining the history and use of this very important dye stuff.