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…

Ellsworth Kelly

Ellsworth Kelly was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, color and form, similar to the work of John McLaughlin and Kenneth Noland.

Palette: #DEE0E0 #B39F8C #C93709 #124A93 #F0DF3D #130D0D #E37A0C #499E51

  • Broadway (1958): #C93B0C #DEDEDA #C27B60
  • Black Square with Blue (1970): #26282C #D3D3D4 #1F46A1 #696253 #B1AEB2 #2C4477
  • Yellow Curve (1996): #DFDEDC #EBD75A #DDCD72 #E1D7A3 #B9AF9A #B6A977
  • Orange Relief with Green (1991): #E5E5E5 #499E51 #E37A0C #C6BFB6 #6F6C46 #AB906D
  • No San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2025): #B4A091 #7A6B62 #51433B
  • Gaza (2025): #C2AA97 #A08876 #6E5E53 #493D37 #2B221E
  • Tòtem (Ellsworth Kelly) (2013): #131217 #324124 #505247 #72725C #9C9E82 #CEE1F0
  • Red Yellow Blue White and Black (1953): #EDEEEB #03518B #CA2F02 #F8EA18 #140904 #8C311D

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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