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…

Eugène Delacroix

Delacroix understood that color is not applied to form but is form. He discovered complementary color contrasts decades before the Impressionists.

Palette: #1F1E1A #4B3E2C #8C6B3D #6E583C #3D2C12 #5F4122 #B68D52 #7B4E22

  • Musiciens Juifs de Mogador (1847): #2F2A1C #48351E #AB924C #7C612F #5F4B2B #9E5B2A
  • The Shipwreck of Don Juan (1840): #707F85 #4B5A5F #445B77 #333940 #233B51 #1D202C
  • Confrontation of Knights in the Countryside (1830): #665532 #959A94 #343830 #6B716B #463522 #C6C5B0
  • Shipwreck on the Coast (1862): #B0A881 #0C0101 #888056 #6F6433 #93B8B8 #59A0B6
  • The Good Samaritan (1849): #07090B #62583B #671D15 #814529 #F34023 #3A1A11
  • The Education of the Virgin (1852): #1B170F #20281D #35371E #5890AB #4C4A23 #2D2313
  • Woman with a Parrot (1827): #85673A #CE9C53 #12110A #B79C6E #5F4829 #613214
  • Lion Hunt in Morocco (1854): #191C1B #201311 #473823 #5E532F #806933 #639C94
  • Male Academy Figure: Half-Length, Side View (ca. 1818-20): #3F2C11 #A98850 #1E150A #5F451C #83632B #0A0705
  • The Natchez (1823-24): #3D3E36 #251E09 #5C4621 #140F06 #3D3114 #5D625D
  • George Sand's Garden at Nohant (ca. 1842-43): #1B1F0C #352D0D #0F1507 #47441C #26311B #565C38
  • Count Demetrius de Palatiano in Suliot Costume (not dated): #1B1813 #473C2C #978E72 #6B6453 #856943 #675235
  • Figure in Turkish Costume (ca. 1856-63): #503B2A #201E1A #372A1F #9E7526 #702A1B #7D5623
  • Marguerite-Juliette Pierret (ca. 1827): #1C1C16 #152228 #946F48 #69491F #1D3648 #29342E
  • Moroccan Horseman Crossing a Ford (ca. 1850): #292D23 #2B2410 #0F0F07 #402814 #4D483B #74583B
  • View of Tangier (1852): #5F5E4E #1A1309 #281904 #362B13 #5E716E #4B3F24
  • Paganini (1831): #211C19 #2F2517 #403015 #5F4820 #835822 #A97737
  • Christ Carried Down to the Tomb (1859): #171E12 #3A2E18 #503311 #06140A #775C29 #241E0D
  • Painter Louis-Auguste Schwiter at the Fog Weg Evening Fall ...«Hardo Menia Ferdi...»! (1827): #1D1E1A #4B3F2B #6C5B3D #434843 #2F2F25 #9F8464
  • Arabs Playing Chess (1847): #2A1907 #55340B #3F270D #170E05 #715320 #331004
  • Musée Delacroix-G Sand-Delacroix (1834): #220F0E #39211E #AC846E #7E5643 #4A241A #EBC6AD
  • La Mer Vue des Hauteurs de Dieppe (1852): #A9946E #D0B877 #7C6F57 #B6B8A7 #86653B #EDE0B4
  • The Murder of the Bishop of Liège (1828): #261E1D #151216 #593C2D #382319 #473B34 #81624B
  • Saint George Fighting the Dragon (1847): #464334 #6A5F41 #2E2D2C #9E8F69 #4D3C21 #7F7C62
  • Portrait of Leon Riesener (1835): #1F292B #5A5649 #423C32 #141617 #2E251E #957348
  • Bavarian State Painting Collections (1826): #261F1E #47352F #684A3A #855F47 #5D5F5A #B58D6B
  • Landscape with Boar Hunt (1839): #42372C #6A5944 #251E19 #977452 #D1CDB5 #56574A
  • Two Farm Horses by a Barn (1825): #2D2820 #594C36 #8E846D #3C2F1C #C5BCA3 #1B1814
  • The Arabs at the Grave (1838): #282224 #56463C #7F4E44 #E8B685 #BE6F54 #452D29
  • The Martyrdom of Saint Sulpicius (1850): #483321 #98714F #2D1C0F #3D210D #653F1F #1E0F05
  • Tiger and Snake (1862): #2D2718 #5A4B31 #7F673A #463420 #4D2316 #ADA27D
  • Portrait of Count Charles de Mornay (1837): #110F09 #7F6336 #2F1F0E #4D361A #232317
  • Eurydice Bitten by a Serpent While Picking Flowers (Eurydice's Death) (1850): #584521 #3A3616 #6B6B55 #3F2A0B #826640 #5B230A
  • Lycurgus Consulting the Pythia (1840): #322922 #4D3C2D #221D1A #46261C #7E6A50 #5E3525
  • Christ Asleep During the Tempest (ca. 1853): #272E27 #38493C #1D1E18 #372111 #24190D #514C3B
  • Mlle. Alexandrine-Julie de la Boutraye (ca. 1832-34): #42382A #241D11 #D1C2A2 #6D6E72 #AB9B7D #675A44
  • Hercules and Alcestis (1862): #4D3C30 #76573D #A87D56 #763A2D #A5593D #CFA477

The Palette

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

0 artists selected
Copied!