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…

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Toulouse-Lautrec painted gaslit nightlife in colors simultaneously garish and sophisticated — acid yellows, absinthe greens, and rouge reds.

Palette: #817368 #A8865C #DEC999 #885638 #5D4437 #BCA48B #776730 #383B4E

  • The Englishman (William Tom Warrener, 1861-1934) at the Moulin Rouge (1892): #5B4E5A #AA7A53 #B8997C #D9BE92 #8A6D61 #7E662F
  • The Sofa (ca. 1894-96): #A6865D #CCBAB6 #846E50 #9F9097 #383540 #BDA895
  • Woman Before a Mirror (1897): #5D4641 #8C817C #3D393A #5B5759 #876859 #D0BDA2
  • Émilie (1890): #DECF9C #B09F55 #313C40 #DDC374 #AD966F #48514F
  • Albert (René) Grenier (1887): #875A3D #1F100C #E7CAA5 #D5A476 #3E2615 #0D0809
  • The Streetwalker (ca. 1890-91): #A68F71 #8F827E #526868 #DCCBAC #746464 #768464

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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