1.2: History of Colour Theory

Figure 1.2. Sir Isaac Newton. Mezzotint by J. Faber, junior, 1726, after J. Vanderbank, 1725. Image by Wellcome Library, London via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

How do we know so much about what colour is? How do we see it and how can we use it?

A progression in our understanding of colour through many versions of practical colour systems, has developed over thousands of years of recorded history. Different ways of identifying and classifying colours have been theorised since ancient times. More recently, scientifically accurate means of measuring the visible light spectrum have been developed.

Today, many of us are still taught as children that red, yellow and blue are primary colours, and we learn to mix paints and crayons using this principle from a very early age. While this traditional colour system credited to Sir Isaac Newton (see Figure 1.2) is good for some practical colour mixing methods, it isn’t scientifically accurate, based on what we now know about light and colour. It’s useful to learn how colour theory has developed over time, beyond mixing paint pigments, if you are working with colour in any field, whether creative or scientific.

This part of Chapter 1 contains a brief history of colour theories from a selection of philosophers, scholars, scientists and artists who have made significant contributions to this field.

Timeline of discoveries:

• Antiquity (c. 500 BCE to 300 CE)

• Middle Ages and Renaissance (c. 400 to 1600 CE)

• The Enlightenment (c. 1650 to 1800)

• Modern era (c. 1850 to 1980)

• Contemporary Colour Systems (c. 1930 – 2020+)

Antiquity (c. 500 BCE to 300 CE)

Ancient philosophy and theories of colour vision

Figure 1.3. Depiction of Plato’s Academy. Image attribution: Unknown author, Plato’s Academy mosaic from Pompeii, marked as public domain, on Wikimedia Commons

Ancient Greek philosophers such as Democritus, Plato (See Figure 1.3) and Aristotle devised theories of colour based on the teachings of Pythagoras and theories of music, maths, astronomy, and universal harmony. The four colours of white, black, red and yellow were popular as the basic and elemental colours used in much of ancient Greek artwork – perhaps because of the plentiful earthy pigments (ochres) that were used at the time.

Democritus theorised about energy and the characteristics of atoms in an object which created visible colours. Plato thought that the eye transmitted rays of vision towards an object (fire rays placed in our eyes by the gods), which also self-radiated rays of colour.

Aristotle, however, rejected theories of the eye radiating rays of vision because if that were true, he argued, we would have the ability to see at night. Aristotle’s colour system included seven primary colours: white, black, red (crimson), yellow, violet, green and blue.

Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), an ancient astronomer, geographer, and mathematician, considered the Earth the centre of the universe (the “Ptolemaic system”). He experimented with optics and light refraction, and believed that the eye generates rays which send back information about colour, shape, size and distance.

Middle Ages and Renaissance (c. 400 to 1600 CE)

The Islamic Golden Age: optics and colour systems

Figure 1.4. Engraving from the title page of Opticae Thesaurus. Image attribution: Opticae Thesaurus, a latin edition of Ibn al-Haytham’s Book of Optics. Among other things it shows how Archimedes allegedly set Roman ships on fire with parabolic mirrors during the Siege of Syracuse. Unknown illustrator, Thesaurus opticus Titelblatt, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons

During the Islamic Golden Age (8^th to 14^th centuries), Arabic Islamic scholars moved away from the theories of Aristotle and Ptolemy to make their own discoveries in colour theory. Between the years 800 – 1200 CE, scholars such as al-Kindi, Ibn al-Haythem (Alhazen) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), concluded that light was necessary for seeing colours – not rays from the eyes.

Ibn al-Haythem (known as the father of modern optics – Figure 1.4) experimented with light and glass spheres of water, observing a rainbow spectrum – the bending (refraction) of light rays into different colours. He noted that red light rays bent the least, and blue light rays bent the most. The scholar Nishaburi proposed the beginnings of a hue scale for describing colour in a system.
Ibn al-Haythem, Book of Optics, c. 1011 CE

The Middle Ages: Grosseteste’s colour system

Figure 1.5. c, eyes crossed, seated with miter and crozier, his right hand raised in blessing. Image attribution: Unknown 14th century scribe, Grosseteste bishop, marked as public domain, on Wikimedia Commons

Around 1200 CE, the scholar Robert Grosseteste (Bishop of Lincoln and, it is speculated, the first chancellor of Oxford University – Figure 1.5) developed a colour system of seven colours. Although we don’t know what those colours were, he may have been the first to separate chromatic colours (red, green, blue, yellow) from achromatic colours (black, grey, and white) in a colour system.

The Renaissance: colour primaries and colour wheels

Figure 1.6 Da Vinci’s study of the gradation of shadows on spheres. Image attribution: Leonardo da Vinci, Study of the Graduations of Shadows on Spheres, marked as public domain, on Wikimedia Commons

Leon Battista Alberti and Leonardo da Vinci were Italian Renaissance artists and polymaths who both had an interest in colour theory from a practical perspective (circa 1450 to 1500 CE). They wanted to understand colour to better mix pigments for painting artworks. Alberti recognised four colours (yellow, green, blue, red) – although he found yellow to be a problematic colour and sometimes replaced it with grey in his four-colour square. Da Vinci investigated the complexities of colour, light and physical materials such as pigments (Figure 1.6). He listed six colours as his basic primaries (white, yellow, green, blue, red, black). He included green in his primaries although he recognised that green could be mixed from yellow and blue making it also a secondary colour.

Aron Sigfrid Forsius – a Finnish astronomer, documented his theory on the colour values Hue, Saturation and Value in 1611.

The physician and mystic Robert Fludd is credited with developing the first colour wheel based on Aristotle’s theories of colour around 1629 to 1631.

The Enlightenment (c. 1650 to 1800)

Newton: the rainbow spectrum and optics

Figure 1.7. Newton’s colour circle from his publication Opticks. Image attribution: Isaac Newton, Newton’s color circle, from Opticks. 1704, from Book I, Part II, Proposition VI, Problem 2. Marked as public domain, on Wikimedia Commons

Sir Isaac Newton is credited with developing the first colour wheel in 1672 (Figure 1.7) based on colour hue relationships. He identified the rainbow spectrum through his experiments with light and prisms. His work led to many breakthroughs in optics, physics and chemistry. Newton’s publication Opticks (Figure 1.8) is recognised as one of the great works of science. It documents Newton’s discoveries in identifying the visible spectrum and the colours ROYGBIV (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet). See Chapter 2 – Colour theory: the visible spectrum for details about this theory.
Link to the Gutenberg Ebook of Opticks

Figure 1.8. Image attribution: Isaac Newton, Opticks, marked as public domain, on Wikimedia Commons

Goethe and Schopenhauer: perceptual colour and colour aesthetics

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (poet and artist), published his Theory of Colors in 1810 (Figure 1.9). He was dismissed by many, perhaps because he refuted Newton’s theories of colour by suggesting that colour was subjectively experienced. He thought that darkness was an important part of the colour spectrum. His explorations of the psychological impact of colour on mood is considered the earliest systematic study of this kind.

His work influenced artists like J.M.W. Turner (Painting Light and Colour (Goethe’s Theory)- the Morning after the Deluge. Moses writing the Book of Genesis 1943). View this painting on The Tate gallery website: The Tate: Joseph Mallord William Turner, Light and Colour (Goethe’s Theory) – the Morning after the Deluge – Moses Writing the Book of Genesis

Figure 1.9. Goethe’s colour wheel. Image attribution: The original uploader was Luestling at German Wikipedia, Goethe, Farbenkreis zur Symbolisierung des menschlichen Geistes- und Seelenlebens, 1809, marked as public domain, on Wikimedia Commons

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer wrote his book On Vision and Colours, which was heavily influenced by his discussions with Goethe. Despite theoretical differences, they were both interested in physiological perception of colour. Johannes Itten based his work with colour on these theories (see 1.3 Colour Aesthetics for more about Itten).

Learn more here:

• The Marginalia – Goethe: Theory of Colour
• Smithsonian Libraries: The Science of Colour

Le Blon: the first three-colour printing method

Jacob Christoph Le Blon (a.k.a. Jakob Christoffel Le Blon) was the first to devise a three-colour printing method in 1710, using the traditional primary colours Red, Yellow and Blue (Figure 1.10). This formed the basis for our CMYK colour printing system today. He used the printing method of Mezzotint to create three or four engraved plates, each with a different colour, which allowed for making prints with a wide range of colours.

See his book on Archive.org: Coloritto, or, The harmony of colouring in painting : reduced to mechanical practice, under easy precepts and infallible rules, together with some colour’d figures, in order to render the said precepts and rules intelligible not only to painters, but even to all lovers of painting:

Archive.org: Coloritto

Figure 1.10. Three-colour printing by Le Blon. Image attribution: Jacob Christoph Le Blon, Le Blon three-color printing, marked as public domain, on Wikimedia Commons

Modern era (c. 1850 to 1980)

Figure 1.11. Chevrel’s chromatic circle. Image attribution: Michel Chevreul, Cercle chromatique Chevreul 3, image marked as public domain, on Wikimedia Commons. Select images to enlarge.

Chevreul: 72-colour wheel and perceptual colour

Figure 1.12. Chevrel’s RYB chromatic diagram. Image attribution: Benjamin Stillman after Chevreul, Chevreul’s RYB chromatic diagram, image marked as public domain, on Wikimedia Commons. Select images to enlarge

The chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul devised a 72-colour wheel in 1839 (Figures 1.11 and 1.12) which not only showed primary colours, but also showed secondary and tertiary colours, and different brightness levels. He experimented with dyes for carpet manufacture, and through this work, identified the relationships of colours when placed next to each other, and how our perception of colour is relational. His work in the field of optics and the way the human brain interprets colour had an important influence on many art movements, including Impressionism and Orphic Cubism.

Maxwell: RGB primaries and the first colour photograph

Figure 1.13. Maxwell’s three-colour photograph – possibly the first colour photograph. Image attribution: The first color photograph made by the three-color method suggested by James Clerk Maxwell in 1855, taken in 1861 by Thomas Sutton. The subject is a colored ribbon, usually described as a tartan ribbon, on Wikimedia Commons

Physicist James Clerk Maxwell was the first to suggest that red, green and blue make better primary colours than red, yellow and blue (based on Newton’s theory of the visible spectrum and that red, green and blue light can be used to make all other colours). He also explored colour blindness in his research.

His paper “On the theory of compound colours, and the relations of the colors of the spectrum”^[1] in 1860, is recognised as an important contribution to colour theory. He may have also been the first person to take a colour photograph of an object in 1861 (Figure 1.13) by projecting three negatives with red, green and blue coloured lights – as shown in Figure 13.

Rood: perceptual colour blending and the Impressionists

Figure 1.14. Pages from Rood’s publication Modern Chromatics With Applications to Art and Industry. Image attribution: Image capture from Modern Chromatics With Applications to Art And Industry by Ogden N. Rood on Archive.org

Ogden Nicholas Rood, a physicist, divided colour into three constants: purity, luminosity and hue – similar to Maxwell’s properties of colour. He also developed a theory of contrasting and complementary colours – suggesting that small lines or dots of different colours, when viewed from a distance, blend into a new colour. This work had a great influence on the Impressionist pointillist painters like Georges-Pierre Seurat. Rood published Modern Chromatics, with Applications to Art and Industry^[2], in 1879 (Figure 1.14).

The Munsell colour system

Figure 1.15. Munsell’s Colour solid cylindrical coordinates – grey. Image attribution: Munsell 1943 color solid cylindrical coordinates.png: SharkD derivative work: Datumizer, Munsell 1943 color solid cylindrical coordinates gray, CC BY-SA 3.0, on Wikimedia Commons

Albert Henry Munsell (an artist and art teacher) developed the Munsell color system in 1915. It is still one of the most-used colour systems – especially in design. His colour system is said to span art and science due to the numbering system he developed to classify colour, which is rigorous enough for scientific use, but also simple enough for artists or those with no scientific background to understand. His system is associated with the word “chroma”, which is the saturation or intensity of hue.

Learn more about the Munsell Color System and Munsell Color company in this publication on Project Gutenberg: A Color Notation by A.H. Munsell, 1905

Ostwald: colour aesthetics, the Bauhaus and De Stijl

Figure 1.16. Oswald’s colour system – photograph of physical model. Image attribution: Photograph of Ostwald’s colour system, licenced under GNU Free Documentation License, on Wikimedia Commons

Wilhelm Ostwald (a Nobel prize winner in Chemistry), explored colour harmonies and why some colours look pleasant when placed together and others look unpleasant. He attempted to find a scientific theory for colour harmony – The Colour Primer 1916/1917 was the most notable publication he produced. His perceptual colour system (Figure 1.16) was different to Munsell’s in that he identified Colour-content, White-content and Black-content. Ostwald was associated with the Bauhaus and while his theories did not gain the same popularity or acceptance as Munsell’s, his work influenced many artists such as Piet Mondrian, and other artists of the de Stijl group^[3].

Contemporary Colour Systems (c. 1930 – 2020+)

Figure 1.17. CIE1931xy gamut comparison diagram. Image attribution: BenRG and cmglee, CIE1931xy gamut comparison, text label modifications by Lisa Cianci, 2022, CC BY-SA 3.0, on Wikimedia Commons

CIE 1931 colour spaces

CIE stands for “Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage” in French, which in English is the “International Commission on Illumination”. This organisation, founded in 1931, is the international authority on light, illumination, colour, and colour spaces.

The CIE 1931 colour spaces made the first clearly defined links between wavelengths in the visible spectrum and colour vision in humans. The development of this colour space became the standard tool for colour management in printing, digital displays and cameras. The two colour spaces – CIE 1931 RGB and CIE 1931 XYZ – were developed from a series of experiments in the late 1920s by William David Wright and John Guild.

These colour spaces and others, such as the CIELUV 1976 colour space, are still widely used. Figure 17 shows the CIE 1931 xy colour space and other colour space gamuts within CIE. As you can see in Figure 1.17, CMYK has a smaller gamut than the various RGB colour spaces – which can affect colour conversion for printing. See 3.3 Colour systems: printing in this resource for more information on colour spaces and conversion to CMYK.

CIELAB colour space

CIELAB colour space – also referred to as CIE L*a*b – is a colour space defined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) in 1976. Its three colour values are L – perceptual lightness, and a/b for what was thought to be at the time, the four unique colours of human vision: red, green, blue and yellow.

• a = red/green scale
• b = blue/yellow scale

CIELAB is intended to represent a perceptual colour space – what the human eye can see – i.e. a human colour gamut. LAB colour is a device-independent colour space that doesn’t relate to any particular technology like a computer, television or printer. This differs from colour systems like RGB or CMYK, which are dependent on specific devices or applications. Because CIELAB has a wider gamut than other colour spaces, it is a useful system for detecting small variations in colour, although depending on the limitations of your device to display or print colour, not all LAB colours may be accurately visually represented.

We often see CIELAB colour space represented as a 2-dimensional graph as in Figure 1.17, however, the best representation is in 3-dimensions, as shown in Figure 1.18.

Figure 1.18. CIELAB colour space – 3-dimensional model. Image attribution: Holger kkk Everding, CIELAB color space top view, CC BY-SA 4.0, on Wikimedia Commons

Test yourself: history of colour theories

A multiple choice quiz to test your understanding of the history of colour theories

(5 minutes or less)

How did you go?

If you need to learn more about this topic, you can read this section again.

References and resources: history of colour theories

Here are some useful links to library subject guide resources and other online resources to further your research.

• RMIT Library: Interior design subject guide
• For more detailed history of colour theory and systems, visit this informative guide to Colour order systems in art and science by Prof. Narciso Silvestrini and Prof. Ernst Peter Fischer.
• Also see the Routledge handbook of Philosophy of Colour for a more academic approach to colour theory.