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…

Hilma af Klint

Af Klint painted abstraction before abstraction existed. Her palette channels the spiritual — deep blues, radiant yellows, organic greens — color as a gateway to the invisible.

Palette: #BEB7AB #9E8A6F #AB7A49 #91311C #8F5B2A #0B0806 #DEBA1A #BE8C20

  • The US Series, Group VIII, No. 7 By (2025): #CAC1B5 #BF922C #0F0E0A #A23810 #52694B #A89E90
  • The US Series, Group VIII, No. 6 By (2025): #C55016 #1C1B14 #D2C8BB #35312B #822422 #BF7F0A
  • Svanen (1915): #A93D29 #DAD1C8 #4F7EAC #1E1E1E #DBB051 #D3917E
  • Self-Portrait (Unkn): #0F6486 #B7BFB3 #3C8094 #064471 #DAD1B8 #21221F
  • Group VI, Evolution No. 13 (13949) (2019): #C9C1C1 #997651 #1A1B1F #A7B1C4 #C4ADA3 #A25B3E
  • Altarpiece No. 2 (13916) (2019): #771B22 #1D1A1E #C1BDC3 #83674D #A28E8D #3A2E2A
  • Altarpiece No. 1 Group X (13919) (2019): #1E191C #E6B075 #B9BBD8 #E0B89F #C29164 #828F76
  • 5 Hilma Af Klint, the Dove No 14 (1915): #A4A69E #1A1919 #6A7583 #A48450 #42464A #63796E
  • 8 Hilma Af Klint, Altarpiece No 1 (1915): #1E1C18 #9B7341 #838184 #66603C #AC9474 #53505A
  • Late Summer (1903): #C3BEA7 #B78621 #996412 #775E24 #5F4116 #C89D17
  • No 16 (1906-07): #384385 #6E8C8A #8DA795 #5D7587 #3D4C7B #C0C189
  • The Five. No Title (1908): #B08244 #E5D7C0 #8E7855 #D7AC70 #D6AC35 #DEA605
  • Chaos (1906): #BAB7A7 #2E151F #938F7D #473438 #98A5B4 #728893
  • The Dove (1915): #D3BC30 #B5BAC5 #939792 #D4C557 #A09B6D #7B7C70
  • No 1 from the Parsifal Series (1916): #7C593E #FDD19F #573824 #A97F5C #3B2111 #261005
  • Group IX Uw No. 25, the Dove, No. 1 (13912) (2019): #CDC7C5 #545758 #CFAEA7 #3D2C20 #604329 #D3CAA9
  • Old Age. Tempera Painting From (1907): #C7B79E #A28E72 #91452F #747B81 #977425 #806A4D
  • Untitled 03 (1920): #E1D1CA #050302 #D0B5A0 #911F0A #9F816C #3C2012
  • Untitled 05 (Unkn): #A08A79 #D2CBC7 #4C3D27 #766147 #ADA8AC #82797A
  • The US Series, Group VIII, No. 1 By (2025): #110B05 #C7C1BC #D4B662 #91939D #8D3C19 #B14E22
  • The US Series, Group VIII, No. 5 By (2025): #B4AEA4 #908D87 #6D6556 #B1AC70 #28231A #0C0B08
  • Tree of Knowledge (1913-15): #73654F #9C9081 #493F25 #342A12 #757170 #988459
  • Tree of Knowledge (1913-15): #5E523F #958B80 #3A321D #3B3833 #201C0E #7F7462
  • 10 Hilma Af Klint, No 98 Group III (1916): #B8B3A4 #B86C48 #BBA18A #B08367
  • 1 Hilma Af Klint, the Seven Pointed Star (1908): #A9956F #D6D6D7 #83796D #A68944 #BEB6A7 #9B7751
  • 2 Hilma Af Klint, the Seven Pointed Star (1908): #AFA796 #AA936B #5B6175 #994C32 #85878C #AF8D3D
  • 9 Hilma Af Klint, No 41 Group 1 (1916): #AAA292 #8B9674 #A38D70
  • John Schamyl Björling (1928): #2A2520 #4E4135 #A27854 #6B4D35 #CEB693 #5E5648
  • The Swan, No. 22, Suw Uw Series By (2025): #C3BDAF #8A7A60 #676963 #918F84 #644E30 #AAA08D

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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