color history

...a very, very short history of color:

Mankind has long pondered the mysteries of color—with much knowledge being added by great thinkers such as Aristotle, Avicenna, Leonard da Vinci, Newton, Goethe, Johannes Itten and others. However, it has only been within the past century that insights provided by our knowledge of human psychology have helped link color patterns to human behavior patterns. We now know, therefore, that color affects our moods and behavior, our perceptions of ourselves and other people, the atmosphere in our homes and workplaces.

In 1928, the famous Bauhaus teacher and artist, Johannes Itten, noted that color harmony represents individual subjective opinion. That is to say, what each person chooses as a harmonious color combination is a result of his or her feelings or temperament. He also found that a student’s own physical coloring affected the type of subject s/he identified with and was interested in. “Blonde types” delighted in themes such as springtime, kindergarten, baptism or a morning garden. They liked vivid nature subjects without light and dark contrasts. “Dark types,” on the other hand, preferred light and dark contrasts, and were more at home with subjects such as the night, light in a dark room, or an autumn storm.

American colorist Suzanne Caygill conducted an experiment in one of her Color clinics to determine the “differences in color receptivity in the eye of the beholder.” Class members were asked to paint a flower bowl containing one rose of every kind available from a nursery specializing in all varieties of roses. “Every tint and tone of reds, pinks, yellows and whites were represented in the large bouquet… Interestingly, it was found that in every case the student painted spontaneously only those colors which related uniquely to her own personal coloring.” All paintings revealed a natural impulse to see and paint only the colors they personally liked. Some even saw and added flowers other than roses!

Over the centuries, the physical effects of color have been incorporated into our traditions and cultural symbolism. Although there are some geographical variations, each color of the rainbow has essentially similar meanings and qualities that transcend cultural and racial barriers.

Click HERE to take our fun & free color personality test and discover the personal color palette that best expresses the real you!