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…

Gustave Courbet

Courbet built paintings with a palette knife, creating surfaces of extraordinary material richness. His palette is earth — dark greens, rich browns, and the grey-white of limestone cliffs.

Palette: #9A8B6D #4B422C #462B12 #2E1C0F #674519 #766042 #686F6D #CED1C0

  • The Meeting, or Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet! (1854): #CEDAC6 #716848 #B9A16E #867B4D #454934 #2D291F
  • L'Origine du Monde (1866): #A68B6A #907349 #A69A97 #6E4D20 #1A1914 #2D1C12
  • Jo, la Belle Irlandaise (1865-66): #2B1C11 #2F2C22 #7F6646 #452B18 #5D3F26 #18130E
  • Young Ladies of the Village (1851-52): #62450A #808B7E #412D07 #88652B #2E2109 #677570
  • Woman with a Parrot (1866): #100A02 #7E704E #281F11 #4C3E29 #A49973
  • Study of a Nude Man (1840): #4C2D19 #361E11 #211109 #73523A #A48060 #30140A
  • Mme L... (Laure Borreau) (1863): #252420 #4F4437 #705D44 #957D56 #89603D
  • Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase (1862): #282919 #44422C #766E63 #472B0E #31180E #683512
  • Der Verwundete: #1E261F #0A1914 #343931 #524535 #D3CBB4 #6E6A59
  • Drei Schulmädchen (1860): #162217 #453522 #2B2A1D #774D2A #9C6734 #C39150
  • Woman in a Riding Habit (L'Amazone) (1856): #201B1F #39342B #3B4F58 #4E7287 #4A4946 #574E33
  • The Calm Sea (1869): #D0C7A6 #A6A38E #A0B79B #D1BB81 #AA9265 #83826D

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

0 artists selected
Copied!