Chromatic Modernity

Chromatic Modernity makes a brilliant contribution to the history of color in film. Focusing on the pivotal period of the 1920s, the book skillfully situates modernist cinema within a sweeping "chromatic revolution" that impacted everything from fashion and advertising to urban planning and interior design. In so doing, it shows conclusively why color matters to film history—and why cinema mattered to the chromatic culture of modernity. -- Michael Cowan, University of St Andrews
This book differs from other studies of film color in its interdisciplinary approach. The authors have gone to great lengths to explore the cultural use of color outside of films and how that influenced and informed technical developments and audience tastes in cinema. I cannot think of a pair more qualified to analyze such overlooked cinema than Street and Yumibe. The convergence of these experts benefits their research and the text they have written. -- James Layton, coauthor of The Dawn of Technicolor, 1915-1935
Arguing against assumptions that intermediality decreases with the formation of the classical Hollywood system, Street and Yumibe assert that the twenties are, in fact, a key decade for cinematic engagement across art forms in the development of this heightened color consciousness. The focus on the transnational intellectual, aesthetic, and industrial cross influences between the United States and Europe and the historical synthesis of a large literature on the color revolution are two significant features of this book. -- Kirsten Moana Thompson, Seattle University
This is a remarkable book. Highly recommended. * Choice *