Chevreul Colour Theories

The exercise was to research Chevreul Colour Theories and how they were used by artists to expand the possibilities of painting.

I tend to be quite methodical when approaching my work, and find it interesting to research also the lives of the people involved in the subjects of my research, whether scientists, artists or others, and where they are coming from, so I started by delving into what made Chevreul begin researching colour. In doing so I found a fair amount of information on Google Scholar, and a very interesting and comprehensive article on Chevreul theories by Georges Roque, a philosopher and art historian.

Michel Eugène Chevreul, Anger 1786-1889

Chevreul was a chemist whose scientific career covered a wide range of subjects during his long life. His interest in colour began in 1824 when he became the director of the dyeing department at Gobelins, a famous tapestry manufacturer. Finding that colour classification was quite empirical, he realised the need for a more practical and logical method of classification, and devised a chromatic circle for weavers and dyers to use as a reference

His weavers and dyers complained particularly about the samples of black wool used for the shades in blue and violet draperies, and after several studies of the quality of the material and of the dyes used he realised that the differences complained of were due to a visual phenomenon related to the juxtaposition of the colours with the black. He concluded that the problems encountered were not chemical but psychophysiological, that is: the way the mind and body interact.

In 1828 Chevreul wrote a piece entitled ‘Memoir on the influence that two colours can have on each other when seen simultaneously” which was eventually published as “On the law of simultaneous contrast of colours and its application to…tapestry, carpets, painting, clothing, horticulture, etc and published in English in 1839 as “Principles of harmonious contrast of colour and their application to art in which he wrote:

If we look simultaneously upon two stripes of different tones of the same colour, or two stripes of the same tone of different colours placed side by side, if the stripes are not too wide, the eye perceives certain modifications which in the first place influence the intensity of colour, and in second, the optical composition of the two juxtaposed colours respectively. Now as these modifications make the stripes appear different from what they really are, I give to them the name of simultaneous contrast of colours; and I call contrast of tone the modification in intensity of colour, and contrast of colour that which affects the optical composition of each juxtaposed colour”.

In other words, according to Chevreul, in the case of hues and tones (lightness) where two different colours are put together, our brains tend to exaggerate the difference in order to perceive them better, especially along the borders.

As we can see in the chart below, where two grey samples, one lighter and one darker are put together, the lighter one is perceived even lighter and the darker one even darker due to the exaggeration of difference.

In the case of two different colours put together, Chevreul’s ideas were helped by a previous study by Charles Blanc, who had proposed the idea of complementary colours as being those most directly opposite on the chromatic Rose

Chevreul’s conclusion was that the brain adds a little of the complementary colour of the juxtaposed hue and vice versa, therefore they enhance each other, which is crucial for painters to predict colour harmony.

Another of Chevreul’s theories was what he called mixture of colours - which is that if two samples of the same size are put together the eye will receive the impression that the colours are mixed – in the case of blue and yellow of the same strength and proportion the eye receives the impression of green.

Although the validity of Chevreul’s theories was confirmed by progress on visual neuroscience, the demonstration of his law is not satisfied from the theoretical point of view. Despite some criticism of his work, his theories have had a huge impact on the subject of colour, remain widely used and taught in art schools, and have made a big impression on many, if not all, artists and genres, particularly Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism and Abstract art.

In terms of colour enhancement, artists who used Chevreul theories were said to have been looking for a recipe on how to give more intensity to their colours. One of whom, Eugene Delacroix, employed harmonised colours in his painting, and his work Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople, 1840 is considered to be a great example of Chevreul theory

It is said that the colours on this painting have suffered dramatic change and that the picture is not very clear. We can see however the vibrancy of the reds and greens used on the drapery and in the flags, and the use of Chevreul theory was validated because the colour triangle he used to make the composition was found in one of his sketchbooks.

Impressionism

It is said that Pissarro was very interested in colour theory, as can be seen in his painting The Little Country Maid,1882. His use of the light and the blues on the clothing of the girl complement the ochre and orange colours of the chair and the wooden floor to create a rich atmosphere, echoing Chevreul’s theories.

Neo-Impressionism

The Neo-Impressionist movement was probably the most interested in colour science. Seurat and Signac acknowledge they used Chevreul theories to enhance the colour of their work, as can be seen in Seurat’s The bathers at Asnieres, an enormous canvas in the National Gallery of London depicting a group of young people relaxing by the river done in conté crayon.

Although this was not executed in the pointillist style, which did not formally exist at that time, he employed dots of complementary colours to create a more vibrant and luminous composition. Dots of orange and blue were, for example, added to the boy's hat.

Reference https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/georges-seurat-bathers-at-asnieres

Another Neo-Impressionist who used Chevreul’s colour theory was Paul Signac (French, 1863–1935) whose The Town Beach, Collioure,1887 used the technique of layering dots and dashes of paint which blend to create optical mixture effects.

Reference

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459118?searchField=All&sortBy=relevance&what=Oil+paintings&ft=*&offset=0&rpp=80&pos=6

Vincent van Gogh was also a very enthusiastic user of Chevreul theories to convey harmony and add meaning to his painting, as indicated in many of his letters to his brother. In his letter regarding The Bedroom, 1888, he implies that the impression of rest is attributed to the combination of colours.

Abstract art

The pioneers of abstract art were interested in Chevreul colour theory as it gave them the rules of organising pure colour combinations independent of reproduction of nature, one example being Robert Delaunay, in whose book 1959 he wrote

“... the multiple dimensions [of a painting] form groups, which are opposed or neutralized, colour being a measure of vibration of such or such intensity, given its neighbourhood and its surface, in relation to all the other colours. Such vibration of an orange, placed in the composition next to a yellow— these two colours being placed almost side by side on the colour diagram— their vibrations being therefore very close, vibrate very quickly. If, in the composition, there is a violet blue, this violet blue will form a vibration with the yellow orange: a much slower movement”.

So according to him, the perception of movement and dynamism in a painting depends somewhat on the position that juxtaposed colours occupy in the colour wheel – that juxtaposed colours that are adjacent in the colour wheel vibrate more quickly and therefore appear more dynamic, whereas juxtaposed complementary colours vibrate more slowly. This optical phenomenon of colour vibration was a way of explaining the sensation produced on the viewer (the eye of the beholder).

I found the subject of colour very interesting, especially Delaunay’s conclusions, and would like to experiment with the theory to create dynamic sensations in the eye of the beholder through the use of colours rather than just portraying nature. As previously indicated, I don’t want to go into pure abstract art, but I can see my practice benefitting greatly from the use of colour theory.