These sources are available through RISD Library's Databases A-Z
Art & Architecture Thesaurus is an authoritative source for the language and terminology used in art & architecture. Use it to gather terminology on a topic. For a sample of its content, begin by scanning the entries under color.
Berg Fashion Library - is a full-text, scholarly source for information relating to fashion and dress. See the article on Color in Dress.
![]() Birren |
Definitions of Color |
![]() Thoughtforms: Sudden Flight Annie Besant & C.W. Leadbeater |
Color Symbolism Color and Culture: Practice & Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction Color and Meaning: Art, Science, and Symbolism Color Categories in thought and language Color Compendium Colors what they mean and how to make them Dictionary of Symbols Browse the subject Symbolism of Colors |
Birren |
Bibliographies on Color |
Many individual colors have their own subject heading- here's a sample from RISD's catalog:
black in art blue in art pink in art mauve |
TIP: Use these subjects to search meta-catalogs, such as worldcat.org to find more items on specific colors. Use Interlibrary Loan to request items not owned by RISD, Brown or the Athenaeum. You may also suggest a purchase for the library's collection.
Oxford Art Online- see this article from Grove Art Online for an historical overview of Colour. Browse the entries under the article's See Also link.
See this article on Color from the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (2nd ed.) for a discussion of Color in the Arts and Color Science. Notice the bibliographies of these articles for further study.
Oxford English Dictionary Online-OED definitions include the origin of the word, its historical useage including its first appearance in the English language, cited quotations, pronunciation, spelling, and a date chart showing its useage over time. example: crimson
Oxford Reference Online-includes Oxford reference sources on a wide range of topics. See Munsell colour system