Color Theory: A Critical Introduction

377 Pages·2021·20.051 MB·English

by  Aaron Fine

COLOR THEORY
Aaron Fine is Professor of Art and Chair at Truman State University where he teaches drawing, painting, and
the history of design—among other topics. He has ten solo exhibitions and over fi ft y group exhibitions on his
CV and twenty years’ experience teaching in art and interdisciplinary studies at the college level. He received
an MFA in Painting from Claremont Graduate University and is the author of the mixed-genre creative
nonfi ction book Dialogues on Color .
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COLOR THEORY
A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION
Aaron Fine
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BLOOMSBURY VISUAL ARTS
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY VISUAL ARTS and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

First published in Great Britain 2022
© Aaron Fine, 2022

Aaron Fine has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as
Author of this work.

For legal purposes the Acknowledgments on p. ix constitute an extension of this copyright page.

Cover design: Louise Dugdale
Cover image: Laura Berman, Coronae 1, Monoprint, 25 × 25 inches, 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist,
but can accept no responsibility for any such changes.

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material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions in copyright acknowledgement and would be grateful if
notifi ed of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Names: Fine, Aaron, 1971– author.
Title: Color theory : a critical introduction / Aaron Fine.
Description: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Summary: “Color Theory gives an overview of the history of color theory, providing students with practical guidance on
the use of color in art and design. By placing basic tenets of color theory such as the color wheel and color primaries
within the Western industrial context that generated them, artist and educator Aaron Fine helps readers connect color
choices to color meanings”– Provided by publisher.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2020056949 (print) | LCCN 2020056950 (ebook) | ISBN 9781350027305 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781350027275 (hardback) | ISBN 9781350027282 (epub) | ISBN 9781350027268 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Color–History. | Colors–History. | Color in art.
Classifi cation: LCC QC494.7 .F55 2021 (print) | LCC QC494.7 (ebook) | DDC 701/.85—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020056949
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020056950

ISBN: HB: 978-1-3500-2727-5
PB: 978-1-3500-2730-5
ePDF: 978-1-3500-2726-8
ePub: 978-1-3500-2728-2

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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiv
Introduction: Color in Context—Pink is Primary 1
Color activities 3
Of paradigm shift s 3
Critical principles 4
What is color? 5
1 Natural Resources and Trade: Color Use in Traditional Cultures 7
Faber Birren 9
Dark and light 10
Red 12
Environment and trade 12
Mandalas 17
Race, gender, and class 20
Color use activity 1.1 21
Other colors—color as substance 23
Berlin and Kay, and the absence of blue 24
Ancient Egyptian color 26
Esoteric color and the decline of the senses 28
Color use activity 1.2 30
Conclusion 31
2 Knowing at a Distance: Color Problems in Ancient Greek Th ought 35
Introduction 36
General notes on color in ancient Greek philosophy 37
Attitudes to color in ancient Greek culture 38
Pre-Socratic philosophy, a brief overview 39
Is/Becomes 40
Th e opposites 41
Color use activity 2.1 43
Th e achromatic imagination 44
Th e invalidity of the senses 46
Ancient Greek epistemology 46
Optics 48
Conclusions about Pre-Socratic color theory 49
Color use activity 2.2 50
Socrates and the Sophists 52
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Contents
Plato 53
Aristotle 55
Color use in Greek art 57
Color use activity 2.3 65
Alternative narratives about Greek culture 65
Conclusion 67
3 Stained Glass and Illuminations: European and Islamic Color Th eory Before Galileo 71
Diff ering color needs, diff ering color applications 72
Th e Byzantine period 73
Iconoclasts and iconophiles 73
Color use in Byzantine art 75
Color use activity 3.1 78
Islam 79
Color in Islamic art and architecture 81
Medieval color theory 88
Color use in medieval art 91
Color use activity 3.2 96
Renaissance color theory 97
Alberti 98
Vasari 100
Color in Renaissance art 101
Color use activity 3.3 109
Leonardo 110
Conclusion 114
4 Prisms, Mirrors, and Lenses: Th e Newtonian Revolution 117
Th e scientifi c revolution 117
Galileo on color 121
Rationalism 122
Empiricism 123
Newton’s Opticks 124
Color use activity 4.1 128
Cultural impact of Newton’s Opticks 129
British empiricism aft er Locke 130
Color use activity 4.2 133
Color use during the scientifi c revolution 134
Conclusion 144
5 Romanticism and Chromophobia: Th e Creation of Color Th eory in the Nineteenth Century 149
Poetry in the Romantic tradition 150
Ideologies of the nineteenth century 152
Goethe as scientist 155
Goethe’s F arbenlehre 157
Color use activity 5.1 161
Th e evolution of color models 162
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Contents
Color theory in the wake of Goethe 167
Color use during the Industrial Revolution 173
Th e invention of photography 176
Color use activity 5.2 177
Chromolithography and mass visual culture 178
Th e Crystal Palace and the G rammar of Ornament 179
Color use in painting: Romanticism and other alternatives to the academy 182
Conclusion 190
6 Th e Science of the Invisible: Color Classifi cation Systems and Spiritual Color 193
Color nomenclature for naturalists 194
Contending with disciplinary fragmentation 198
Early childhood education during the Industrial Revolution 199
Smuttynose Island and the origins of the Munsell color system 202
Th e Munsell color sphere and its successors 204
Evolving uses of the Munsell color system 207
Colorimetry and color forecasting 214
Color use activity 6.1 215
Spiritualism and the occult 216
Rudolf Steiner 218
Steiner on art and color 219
Occult theory, science, color, and race 224
Claude Bragdon 227
Color use activity 6.2 230
Color use: culture and counterculture 231
Color use: from Manet to the Fauves 232
Color use on the Electric Avenue 236
Hilma af Klint and spiritual color use 237
Conclusion 241
7 High Modern: Color Use at the Bauhaus and in Abstract Expressionism 245
Before the Bauhaus 246
Th e Bauhaus idea 248
Bauhaus terminology 249
Color use activity 7.1 251
Th e “Basic Course” 252
Itten’s color wheel 253
Ostwald 256
Klee 258
Th e dadaist counter-narrative 261
Th e surrealist counter-narrative 261
Color use activity 7.2 264
Early modern color use 265
Migration to the US 270
Black Mountain College 270
Albers 271
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Contents
Color use activity 7.3 273
Interaction of color 275
Hofmann 276
Pollock 278
Greenberg 282
Color use activity 7.4 284
Photography and color 285
Architecture and color 287
High modern color theory 289
Conclusion 289
8 Postmodern: Contemporary Directions in Color Use 293
Benjamin and color in the age of mechanical reproduction 294
Ludwig Wittgenstein 296
Wittgenstein on color 297
Language and color 299
Color science in the age of color standardization 302
Chirimuuta 307
Color and information 310
Color use through the turn of the millennium 312
Color in the age of information 317
Color use activity 8.1 318
Postmodernism and post-formal color 319
Conceptualism in postmodern art: pop and feminist art 322
Contemporary exploration of color as racial signifi er 327
Contemporary exploration of color science and technology 329
Vexillogical color 333
Color use activity 8.2 334
Th e modernist stance among diverse perspectives 334
Approaches to color use 335
Commencement 340
Glossary 343
Index 351
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Cover Laura Berman, C oronae 1 , 2014.
1.1 Joseph Mallard William Turner, Shade and Darkness: Th e Evening of the Deluge ,
Tate Museum, London, United Kingdom, 1843. 8
1.2 Painting of a dun horse, or Chinese Horse , Lascaux, France, c. 15,000 b ce . 14
1.3 Ishtar Gate , Babylon, Pergamon Museum, Berlin, Germany, c . sixth century b ce . 15
1.4 Germantown Eye-Dazzler blanket, c. 1885. 16
1.5 Tibetan sand painting, late twentieth century. 19
1.6 Sarcophagus of the Spouses , Louvre Museum, Paris, France, 520–510 bce . 21
1.7 Robert Hay, Drawing of Egyptian tomb painting, British Museum, London,
United Kingdom, 1826–38. 26
1.8 Depiction of Xiuhtecuhtli, from the C odex Fejervary-Mayer , Liverpool World Museum,
Liverpool, United Kingdom, 1345–1521. 32
2.1 Terracotta oinochoe, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States, 470–460 bce . 36
2.2 Schematic drawing of Aristotle’s analysis of the rainbow’s fi xed angle, 2019. 57
2.3 Terracotta calyx-krater in the red fi gure style, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
United States, fourth century bce . 59
2.4 Terracotta calyx-krater in the black fi gure style, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
United States, fourth century bce . 59
2.5 Brygos Painter, Kylix in the white ground style, Bavarian State Collection of Antiques, Munich,
Germany, 490–480 bce . 60
2.6 Winged Nike of Samothrac e, Louvre Museum, Paris, France, second century bce . 61
2.7 Kritios (attrib.), K ritios Boy , Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece, 480 bce . 61
2.8 Riace Warrior , Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia, Reggio Calabria, Italy, c . 460 b ce . 62
2.9 Hades Abducting Persephone , Vergina, Greece, 340 bce . 62
2.10 Alexander Mosaic , Naples National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy, c . 100 bce . 63
2.11 Boxer at Rest , National Museum of Rome, Rome, Italy, c . 330–50 bce . 64
3.1 Cathedral of St. Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, 537 ce . 75
3.2 Empress Th eodora and Attendants , Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, sixth century ce . 76
3.3 Th e Vladimir Icon , Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, Moscow, Russia, twelft h century. 77
3.4 Th e Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1648. 82
3.5 Hall of the Two Sisters, Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain, fourteenth century. 84
3.6 Court of the Lions, Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain, fourteenth century. 84
3.7 Mosaic walls, from Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain, fourteenth century. 85
3.8 Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain, eighth century. 85
3.9 Doge’s Palace, Venice, Italy, 1340. 86
3.10 A Manuscript of Five Sections of a Qur’an , Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United
States, eighteenth century. 87
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