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The Formation of Color Theory

Explore the fascinating journey of color theory from ancient philosophers like Empedocles and Plato to modern masters like Newton, Goethe, and Munsell. Discover how their theories shaped our understanding of color perception and influenced art, science, and psychology.

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The Formation of Color Theory

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  1. The Formation of Color Theory Scientific and psychological explainitions

  2. Color Theory and the Ancient World

  3. Color Theory and the Ancient World • Empedocles • (492-431 BC) • Through observation determined color is perceived, not the property of the object. • Democritus • (?460-431 BC) • First atomic theory: color was the result of atomic arrangements. • Plato • (428-347 BC) • Worked with perception of reality. If color changes based on the viewer, how can we determine the true color of objects.

  4. Aristotle • (384-322 BC) • De Coloribus ( the first know book about color) • Composition and relationship of color. • Derived from the blending of sunlight, fire, light, and lack of light. • Hue identification- white, black, red, yellow, brown, violet, green, blue. • Proposed the mixing of white and black with these hues resulted in all colors.

  5. Leonardo Da Vinci • Mathematician, scientist, artist (1452-1519) • Treatise on Painting, 1651 • Simple (primary) colors: white, yellow, green, blue, red, black. • Ranked color: white- light, yellow- fire, green- water, blue-air, red- fire, black- total darkness. • 1st to… • Create system of primary colors arranged in order • Direct contraries intensify each other (complements) • Certain responses take place when colors are placed next to each other (simultaneous contrast)

  6. Sir Isaac Newtonmathematician, physicist • 1643-1727 • Opticks, 1704 • Interested in the physics of color, not the perception. • Newton discovered measurable, mathematical patterns in the phenomenon of color. • He found white light to be a mixture of infinitely varied colored rays (manifest in the rainbow and the spectrum)

  7. Newton’s Color Wheel • Based on additive color • Red • Orange • Yellow • Green • Blue • Indigo • Violet

  8. Johann Wolfgang von GoetheGerman writer, poet, philosopher, and scientist: 1749-1832 • Theory of Colors, 1810. • First modern thinker to record the function of the eye rather than the properties of light. • Opponent to Newton’s physics of light. • Explored every aspect of color: • Complementary color • Simultaneous contrast • Successive contrast • Effects of cast light • Proportional color

  9. Goethe Color Triangle Goethe Color Wheel

  10. Notables • Philip Otto Runge • German painter: 1st 3D color model • J.C. Maxwell • Scottish physicist: concepts of additive color. Extensive work with spinning discs and pioneer to modern-day photography • Michel Eugene Chevreul • French chemist: (dye master) The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colors • All hues could be obtained from mixing primaries (red, yellow, blue) • Established the laws of: simultaneous contrast, successive contrast, and optical mixing. • Ewald Hering • German physiologist and psychologist • Theories of color perception • Psychological Primaries: the primary colors of vision. • Red, yellow, blue, green

  11. Albert Munsell • American-born color theorist: 1858-1918 • Color Notation, 1905 • Color describe by three variables • Hue, value, chroma • Expanded the primary hues- principle colors • Red, yellow, blue, green, purple • Adopted by the US Bureau of Standards as the acceptable language of color • Created a system for color standardization in art

  12. Munsell Tree • Gradation of value along the • vertical axis • Gradation in saturation/ chroma along the horizontal branches • The equator of the solid shows the hues • Munsell notation: • 1st number and letter= • hue • 2nd number= value • 3rd number= chroma • 5R5/14= pure, middle-value red

  13. Wilhelm Ostwald • German Chemist, 1853-1932 • Nobel prize winner • Color model based on geometric progression 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32… • All colors are a combination of hue, black, white • Created the term • Tint: addition of white • Shade: addition of black

  14. Two triangular solids • joined at one side • with black at one point and white at the other. • 24 pure hues at the • equator.

  15. Johannes Itten • Swiss artist, teacher: 1888-1967 • The Art of Color/ The Elements of Color- 1961 • Bauhaus instructor- approached education both physically and mentally. • Used Runge’s color sphere but placed yellow at the top (brightest)

  16. Itten’s 6 basic contrast • of color: • Light-dark • Cold-warm • Complementary • Simultaneous contrast • Quality or Saturation • Quantity or Extension

  17. Josef Albers1888-1976 • Teacher at the Bauhaus. • Refined Itten/ Kandinsky • At Yale, Interaction of Color- 1963 • Much of his work was based on simultaneous contrast. • “Homage to the Square”- investigate infinite color combinations and their reactions. • Explored materials beyond painting/ printmaking

  18. Louis Prang German immigrant, printer:1824-1909 • printer and developer of a four-color printing process known as chromolithography in the 1860's. (the father of the American Christmas Card) • Prang's system was the first workable system to reproduce color in print. • The Prang Color Wheel arrangement was also used by Johannes Itten in his work on color. • An outspoken advocate for bringing art into the classroom through the introduction of products like watercolor paints. • More democratic ideas of who should have access to art.

  19. Prang or Artist’s Color System • Primaries: red blue yellow


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