The Colorist
Archive

A living archive of how artists work with color across time. Each artist profile scans publicly available works to trace dominant colors, a chromatic fingerprint, and the arc of a palette across a lifetime.A living archive of how artists work with color across time, tracing palettes, fingerprints, and lifetime arcs from public works.

Begin with an artist, carry a palette into the drawing system, or read the wider project.Begin with an artist, carry a palette into the drawing system, or read the wider project.

Scanning works…

Alex Katz

Katz paints flat fields of color with billboard-scale confidence. His palette is cool and decisive — grass greens, sky blues, and the precise pink of sunlit skin.

Palette: #697448 #734240 #C19F38 #DCBB7D #688F63 #36562C #DEC143 #BCB466

  • Paul Taylor Dance Company (1963): #22171F #383A41 #D4B194 #C5611B #685F70 #A78874
  • Paul Taylor Dance Company (1964): #22171F #D8B599 #363B43 #B5937A #724654 #BD371F
  • Pansies (1967): #91B758 #B3C6A0 #9B8FA6 #DFD7D5 #6E3D54 #668C5C
  • Tulips (1969): #B4ABAE #6D343D #929E6E #C8A53C #B7AA92 #647359
  • West Window (1979): #394346 #BAAD48 #786B4E #A69461 #68716C #433D35
  • Lillies Against Yellow House (1983): #E7CD3C #CE6132 #B9BCA3 #D5B13B #CDC167 #DF9C49
  • Young Trees (1989): #36462A #668D45 #AABF61 #44672A #43562E #6C815E
  • Daisies #2 (1992): #65916D #A0C4AA #D2E9D7 #A9B25F
  • Ocean View (1992): #6D9459 #4971A3 #C7BEA3 #9EB287 #C4D5BB #5E7E95
  • 3 Pm, November (1997): #749AB5 #364756 #546C80 #1C2732 #0D151D
  • Green Shadow #2 (1998): #DBB765 #6B7B49 #9E9B5E #4F585A #4C6545 #7E898A
  • Road (1998): #5D744C #4C554C #776E51 #D5B552 #363E42 #465F42
  • Penobscot (1999): #75899D #DDE3DC #A5CDD3 #AA9689 #A4B2BD #887970
  • Grey Marine (2000): #8197AB #ADBDCB #CED8E0 #5C6C7C
  • Pink Sweater (1981): #3F2E2A #C9B9BF #DEC7A4 #6D5445 #AE9076
  • Eli’s Friend (1985): #D9C380 #715336 #533F32 #B29C6C #ADC6B0 #873237
  • Kate (1994): #32373B #E2CDA3 #484F54 #854E41 #553E38 #6A3A30
  • Vincent (1996): #BEBEBC #634738 #C9A970 #4F423B #EDE8DD #9A7C5B
  • Hiroshi and Marcia (1981): #313131 #564236 #F2C791 #EFDEC7 #434342 #6D6762

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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